No Turning Back
by Keelywolfe
Summary: A series of stories set during the show, beginning with 'The Boiling Rock. Zuko/Sokka, hints of Sokka/Suki.
1. Chapter 1

No Turning Back

By Keelywolfe

Summary: While staging their rescue at the Boiling Rock prison, things take a turn for the worse. Zuko/Sokka, NonCon but maybe not in the way you'd think

~~*~~

No matter where you were in the prison, the air felt damp, heavy with bitter humidity that seemed to collect under Sokka's borrowed helmet. It made him wish for about the millionth time that he could take it off if only long enough to towel dry. It felt like his head was fermenting. By the time they got off this island, he would probably have mushrooms sprouting in his hair.

But first, they had to get off. The plan he and his father had come up with was their last chance and all he had to do was get the other guards to let the prisoners into the yard.

He turned down the corridor that led to Zuko's cell, trying to look nonchalant and guard-ly. La, la, nothing to look at, just another prison guard walking here. There, that was Zuko's cell. The sight made him walk a little faster, the urge to get his dad, Suki, and Zuko and just _go_ rising up in him.

A thin seam of light was showing around the edge of the door, making Sokka slow. The door was open? It shouldn't be open unless...yeah, there was already a guard inside. He peered in through the tiny window in the door, trying to see what was happening. Zuko was perfectly capable of taking care of himself but if he caused any trouble he'd end up in the cooler again and they couldn't afford that right now.

The room was too dark to make out anything, only the faint sounds of scuffling. Sokka sighed inwardly and pushed open the door. Maybe he could soothe over whatever the problem was.

"Hey, what's going...on?" His voice trailed away, eyes widening as he stared. Oh, this was so not good.

Zuko was on his knees, blood trailing down his chin. His hands were behind him, already in cuffs and, oh, the cold anger in his eyes, barely flicking to Sokka before they returned to the guard in front of him.

The guard was still wearing his helmet, the eyeholes blank in the dimness like a caricature of humanity. His hands were on his belt, fastening? Unfastening? Sokka couldn't tell and the taste of bitter bile rose in the back of his throat.

"Well, well, if it isn't the new guy. What's the matter, haven't had a chance yet?" he sounded almost jovial. It made nausea twist in Sokka's stomach, the blood trail drying on Zuko's chin, had the other guards already been here? Had Zuko..._this had been his idea, all his, Zuko had only wanted to help, just wanted to--_

"So why don't you go first, then."

First. Oh, thank all the gods, that meant he hadn't--_first?!_

Sokka hadn't moved since he'd stepped in the cell, his feet rooted to the floor as surely as if they'd imbedded themselves into it. The cell door had swung shut behind him there was no one to see, no one to stop them. If anyone even would.

"C'mon, the warden will want him soon."

"Right," Sokka stuttered out, forcing his feet to step closer. Frantic ideas were boiling through his mind, each one scanned and quickly dismissed as unhelpful. They couldn't just knock the guard out, they couldn't flee; everything depended on the plan he and his father had devised. Otherwise they would all be in cells on a much more permanent basis.

He grabbed Zuko by the arm and hauled him closer, using the opportunity to lean down and whisper frantically, "You need to get out to the yard in one hour."

There was no time to see if Zuko had understood. The guard crouched down and grabbed Zuko's hair, yanking his head back, breathed in his ear just loud enough for Sokka to hear. "Don't bite, traitor, or the cooler will be the least of your worries.

Wide golden eyes met Sokka's and he could read everything in them, surprising calm in their depths. _Do it_, they said, _we don't have a choice_.

His hands felt numb, fumbling with his belt, a small eternity before he got to his trousers. He wasn't even hard, not even the faintest bit of arousal at this, what was wrong with these people that they could even _do_ something like this--

The feeling of a warm, wet mouth surrounding him made him gasp, Zuko barely hesitating, dark heat and gentle suction making sparks dance up Sokka spine, and it didn't matter if he didn't want to want it, his body disturbingly disobedient to his fervent wishes. Somehow, his hands wandered into dark hair, threading through sweaty strands and clenching when Zuko curled the wet tip of his tongue over the head in a way that made Sokka's knees tremble.

It didn't last long, couldn't, and coming was almost a relief, the feeling of Zuko swallowing around him making him shiver. Sokka peeled his eyes open, barely remembering closing them but Zuko was looking at the floor, panting faintly, his lips red and almost swollen. The nausea rose again, Sokka's mouth flooding with saliva, and he dimly wondered if it would blow their cover if he vomited on his boots.

The guard laughed, making both of them jump and Sokka flushed guiltily; he'd almost forgotten the other man was even there. He jerked his pants up, righting them with trembling fingers.

"You really liked that, didn't you, traitor," he chuckled, fumbling again with his own pants. Terror welled again, Sokka's eyes flicking frantically to Zuko, they couldn't allow this, they couldn't, but Zuko refused to look at him, radiating icy calm.

He was going to...but they...didn't have a choice.

"Hey, what's going on in there?" A loud, blessedly female, voice shouted, the door banging open. "The warden needs to talk to this prisoner immediately." Her eyes narrowed as she took in the scene, "You'll have to get your kicks later, boys."

Sokka stumbled away, watching mutely as she roughly hauled Zuko to his feet and briskly snapped off the cuffs, tossing them at the other guard's feet.

"Pigs," she muttered disgustedly, loudly enough to make Sokka wince, before she dragged Zuko away.

The other guard shrugged almost good-naturedly. "They don't let us date the female guards."

"Yeah," Sokka said weakly. He took one hesitant step towards the door, uncertain his legs would carry him, then two, and then he was nearly running down the corridor, barely managing to slow himself when he heard another guard approaching. The escape plan, right, that was all that mattered now. They had to get out of here before...before anything else happened.

With the firm discipline he'd learned at Piandao's hand, Sokka pushed the entire incident to the back of his mind, that horrible guard, the golden eyes and damp lips. Everything firmly shut away. Let it sit there and stew a while. He had other concerns.

**

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

~~*~~

Sokka left the campfire and the laughter even as his heart warmed to hear his father's voice mingling with the others. His family was complete again, both the original and the new members present but it was the person who wasn't there that Sokka was looking for right now.

Zuko had brought them tea three times now, until Toph had asked him if he'd switched to water bending as a method of attack. Zuko had flushed and stammered something out before he fled and hadn't returned. They hadn't had a moment to really talk yet, the past day a blur of escape plans, his father, and Suki. And while Sokka would never claim to be a genius, had said before that he was just the guy with the boomerang, he did know when someone was avoiding him. And he certainly knew why.

Sokka found Zuko washing the cups, methodically drying them as if all the answers to the universe could be found in the polished ceramic.

He hung back a little, saw in Zuko's stiffening posture that he knew he was being watched. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay," Zuko said it automatically, with that unusual calm. There was a large chip at the rim of one of the cups, had been for ages. They couldn't exactly run out and get another tea set anytime they wanted. Zuko was examining the little flaw as though he could tell fortunes from it, the silence hanging between them as he refused to look up.

Yeah, this was going to be awkward. "Except for how you're really not."

"Sokka, I'll be fine."

Edging closer, Sokka crouched down next to the other boy, studying him in profile. He'd never seen Zuko's scar so close before, the reddened edges were cleaner than he'd expected, the untouched skin around it seemed even paler for it. He'd wondered before if Zuko's eye had been damaged as well but the flicker of a glance towards him, just meeting his own gaze before it flicked away answered that.

Almost Sokka touched him, hesitated, and let his hand drop. There was a question he needed to ask, that he needed an answer to. He looked back at the fire; the laughter was muted by the distance, and saw no other shadows approaching. In a hushed voice he asked, "Did the guard...did...did anyone else..."

Zuko sighed heavily, setting the cup he was drying with the others and finally turning to look at the other boy. "The guard never touched me, Sokka. Aside from putting on the cuffs and getting a little touchy feely, nothing happened. I'm fine, I promise you."

"Except for what I did to you."

"Is that what has you all upset? Sokka, it's really all right," His voice was surprisingly gentle. "I'm sorry I had to do that to you, but we had no choice--"

"_You're_ sorry?" Sokka squeaked out. Geez, but this guy had a guilt problem. He'd take the blame for everything he'd done and then some, carrying the guilt around like Appa carried his riding basket.

Zuko misunderstood, ducking his head, his cheeks flushed red even in the dimness."I'm very sorry, but I couldn't think of any other way."

"No, no, what I mean is, I was the one...you were...I didn't hurt you, did I?" Sokka blurted.

Zuko's expression softened, a little. "No. You didn't hurt me."

"You were bleeding."

He shrugged. "I started to fight when I realized what he was after. He hit me. It didn't hurt too much. It just wasn't that big of a deal, Sokka. We got out, that's all that matters."

"It's a big deal to me."

"Yeah, I'm getting that."

No, he really wasn't but Sokka couldn't tell him how it felt to look at his mouth and remember wet heat and gentle suction, the feathering touch of breath on his bare skin. He couldn't tell Zuko that he hated remembering it because it he hadn't been hard then but it made him hard now, just looking at the thin line of Zuko's lips as the boy pursed them in thought.

"We did what we had to do, Sokka, you should try to just leave it at that."

"No, no, you keep enough things inside, you should, you know, talk about things like this. Not that I'd tell anyone but..." he winced inwardly but plowed on, "unless you want to, but--"

"Sokka..."

"And I know we said you shouldn't keep secrets from your friends but this isn't really—"

"Sokka—"

"And this is all weird an awkward just when I was getting used to you and I don't want it to be like that because you helped me help my dad--"

"Sokka, he was right," Zuko broke in. "I did like it."

"You—" Blinking. "You mean, he—he and I—"

"Not him," Zuko rolled his eyes. "You."

"Oh." That left him briefly speechless, barely managing to blurt out through his tight throat, "But, you said you had a girlfriend."

"So what?" Sullenly, Zuko crossed his arms over his chest, hunching his shoulders and pulling in on himself. "I did. I like girls." Deep breath. "But I liked that too."

"Oh." So maybe the words weird and awkward weren't enough to describe this anymore. A brief flashing memory again of that soft mouth, so very gentle and had Zuko wanted it before that? Had the guard just pushed the issue or had he been surprised by it too, like Sokka had, that it had felt so good even when it was wrong.

"Look, I didn't tell you this so you would feel bad or...or--urgh!" Zuko pushed an angry hand through his hair. "I just--I don't know why I told you. It's all right. We can still...we can be friends, right?"

It was that tone of his, that oh so vulnerable and hopeful one that Sokka had only learned existed in the past few weeks. It echoed in his eyes, desperately pleading for _something_, some scrap of affection that was never received. Sokka had known to hate the Fire Lord since the moment he'd understood who he was but never before had that feeling been so burningly personal. Aang always talked about forgiveness and first steps, all that Airbender junk, but there was nothing and no one who could ever make Sokka forgive the Fire Lord for what he'd done to his own son.

"I don't think I want to be friends with you," Sokka said finally and that beseeching, hopeful light in Zuko's eyes faded. "I mean, if we were just friends, I wouldn't be able to do this."

Zuko's mouth was wet and faintly sweet, like the tea he so often made. Surprise parted his lips and Sokka wasn't above taking advantage of a lapse like that, slipping his tongue past the hard edge of teeth to the softness inside. Zuko's tongue wasn't quite with the plan, lax and unmoving but hey, as first kisses went, Sokka wasn't about to complain.

He pulled back enough to look into Zuko's eyes, wide with shock.

"I--you--" Speech seemed to fail him and Zuko finally just stared at him blankly, his mouth still trying to form words.

"Yeah, it's not really a 'friend' sort of thing," Sokka said agreeably. "So we'll have to be something else."

"But--you and Suki, she is--you were--" Zuko stammered out, gesturing almost wildly to indicate whatever words weren't forming properly. It was really sort of cute, Sokka decided with growing fondness. A year of traveling from one end of the world to another had taught Sokka one important lesson, take what's offered when it's offered because tomorrow you might be dead. Or the moon. Something like that, anyway.

"Yeah, Suki's great, isn't she? But I gotta tell you, she'll understand."

"Understand?" Zuko parroted dumbly.

Sokka squinted at him. "Are you okay? I mean, I didn't hurt you, did I? Firebenders can kiss and stuff, right?"

"Yes, they can kiss!" Zuko snapped, visibly shaking himself. Well, good then, if he wasn't mentally damaged then maybe there could be some more kissing. "What I meant was, what do you mean she'll understand?"

"Boy, you didn't pay much attention to Kyoshi island before you burned it down, did you? Lots of female warriors, hanging out together--just trust me, she'll understand."

"I don't think I understand, exactly," Zuko said, his voice low. But his eyes said he understood perfectly, that brilliant gold warming with something that had nothing to do with firebending.

That was okay, though, until Zuko got everything on the same page, Sokka could handle it. He was improvising sort of guy. "Tell you what," he said, leaning forward on his knees, "Why don't we just go with it being my turn now, and we'll figure out the rest later."

It was kind of nice that basic prison clothes were of the easy access variety since Sokka wasn't sure he was up to dealing with all the layers Zuko usually wore. He fumbled nervously with the ties, hands shaking. Taking clothes off someone else wasn't quite as easy as he'd figured.

"Wait. Stop," Suddenly harsh, Zuko grabbing his hands in a firm grip. Sokka looked up at Zuko's tight expression. "You don't have to do this. I don't want your pity or guilt or whatever this is."

"It's a good thing I'm not offering any, then," he kept his voice soft, coaxing like he would a frightened animal, "You liked doing it to me, right? So let me try."

Zuko's hard expression shifted, the vulnerability showing through the cracks and Sokka spared a brief thought in the direction of the Fire Lord again. No punishment could repay this. Sokka pulled his hands free of Zuko's lax grip and this time managed to work his pants open, pushing Zuko to sprawl back on his elbows. It left him with his legs spread, enough room for Sokka to crouch between them and just...wow.

He'd seen other people naked before, of course he had. Bathing together was commonplace in the Water Tribe and, he'd learned, in much of the rest of the world, too. But it had never been like this, warm skin beneath him, aroused, waiting for him.

Zuko was still beneath him, holding his breath, the wet gleam of his eyes watching, waiting. Well Sokka did hate to disappoint.

Soft, soft skin, the faint taste of salt beneath his tongue and he licked the tip gently, heard Zuko gasp above him. It made Sokka wonder just how much the other boy had done. He hadn't seemed all that uncertain in the prison but now his hands were clenched tightly at his sides and he was trembling so hard that Sokka couldn't help but pet his leg soothingly, curving a hand into the soft well behind Zuko's knee.

It's all right, he tried to convey without words, his mouth a little too busy for talking right now. It wasn't as easy as it sounded and he couldn't help but wonder why Zuko hadn't drooled too much or gagged a little when he took it too deep. His jaw was aching a little and trying to work his tongue around the thickness in his mouth while being careful of his teeth at the same time was a task worthy of more concentration than he could give.

But from the sounds Zuko was making, none of that was bothering him at all. Sokka managed to look up enough to see Zuko had a hand over his mouth, muffling his own cries while his other scrambled in the dirt, flailing for something to hold on to.

He captured that hand in his own, wincing a little at the unnatural heat and spared a moment to hope that Zuko had enough control not to fry their hands off. Then he managed to get everything line up right, for once, swallowing around that hardness and he recognized his name through the muffled sounds above him.

A surge of bitter heat over his tongue surprised him and he pulled back, swallowing frantically to keep from choking. The hand in his own grew painfully hot for the briefest second, cooling before Sokka could even pull away. He leaned back on his knees, letting Zuko keep his hand as he studied his handiwork.

Zuko looked....broken, Sokka decided with great satisfaction. Clothes in disarray, sweaty hair clinging to his scalp as he gulped in air, his panting slowly easing.

"So that was okay, then, right?" Sokka had to ask. Hey, it never hurt to have a little reassurance.

Zuko's eyes flew open, unreadable as he stared at Sokka. It made him shift a little uncomfortably; okay, so he wasn't an expert but all things take practice, right? No one became a master on their first day and surely blowjobs counted with that--

The sound he made could only be called an undignified squawk as Zuko grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him down. A hot mouth covered his own, his still tender lips protesting in a way that he completely ignored in favor of the rough tongue sliding against his own, licking into his mouth as though to taste himself on Sokka's lips.

"Sokka?" Katara's voice floated over to them, freezing them as surely as if she'd encased them in ice.

"Dammit," he hissed, sitting up and adjusting his own pants uncomfortably. He didn't miss the faint curve of a smirk on Zuko's mouth before he quickly straightened his own clothes.

They crouched there a moment longer, no time for any words before his sister stumbled across them. Instead, Sokka gave him a last, quick kiss before he pulled away, yelling to his sister that he was coming.

Zuko didn't follow him, only watched him walk away with unreadable eyes. But that was okay, Sokka decided. Tomorrow was another day and he'd heard that firebenders rose with the sun.

And that was a theory he was dying to test.

TBC


	3. Division of Time

Chapter 3: Division of Time

Summary: Set during 'The Southern Raiders.' Zuko needs to talk to Sokka about his sister. It doesn't quite go like he planned.

~*~

They hadn't actually talked about it, this thing they had with Sokka, but somehow both of them knew. Although Zuko had entertained himself with thoughts of charts documenting the proper distribution of Sokka between him and Suki, it wasn't like that. They simply knew when it was their turn, the way that Zuko instinctively knew when the sun had risen even when he couldn't see it.

Zuko would admit that he'd barely talked with Suki at all; polite words exchanged between them and little else. He had nothing but Sokka's reassurances that she didn't mind to go on, that and the fact that she hadn't slit his throat in his sleep. Time alone with Sokka was a precious commodity and they weighed every shred of it between them as starving men would weigh the last scrap of meat. There were unspoken rules and both of them had followed them.

Until tonight.

Zuko lingered near Sokka's tent, just outside of the warm inviting glow seeping through the front flap. He could hear Sokka moving around inside, humming painfully out of tune which meant he was still alone.

There was something not quite uncomfortable in being here. The light _was _inviting, the tent flap just barely open, welcoming someone to step inside. Someone who wasn't him.

The fact of the matter was, tonight was not his night. And yet, he was here, needing to talk to Sokka.

The problem was he didn't know how to separate 'time' with Sokka...oh, for pity's sake, just say it, he told himself fiercely. Sex with Sokka was what it was, sweaty, dirty sex. With Sokka.

So there was sex with Sokka but also just talking with Sokka and he wasn't clear on the time share of that.

The ridiculousness of this didn't escape him. When he'd made the choice to join with the Avatar against his father, he'd never really even considered the people who travelled with him. All he'd wanted was to do something right for a change. Not to make his father proud or even to make himself happy. Just what was right.

And now here he was, the Avatar's outcast firebending teacher and the occasional sex partner to a Water Tribe boy instead of the play prince of the Fire Nation. The whole situation was a muddled sort of absurdity that could have only happened in his life.

Still, it was what he had and if he were to be honest with himself, he wouldn't change it, not to go back to the hollow comfort of his not-home. If he stood here in the quietness and remembered the look in Sokka's ice-dark eyes the night before, sweet heat just before he'd closed them and came...

He didn't see Suki until she almost ran him over.

"Oh!" Suki startled, before she caught herself. She gave him a quizzical little smile, her head tilted questioningly.

"I just need to talk to Sokka for a second," Zuko said softly, answering her unspoken question. "I won't be long."

"Sure," she said brightly. "Take your time." She gave him a little wave and crept back in the direction of her own tent.

He watched her go, the fading shadow of her back disappearing again into the night.

Kindhearted, to allow him this moment, although it honestly didn't surprise him. Anyone that Sokka could care so deeply about had to be a good person. He didn't quite understand why she was allowing any of this but he didn't dare ask, only grateful that she did.

Zuko took a deep breath and let it out before he finally gave in and ducked into the tent.

"Hel-looo...erk!" Sokka's surprised expression made the heaviness in Zuko's stomach worse. The tent was filled with candles and flowers, perfect for the seduction of a lovely woman and completely unnecessary for an exiled prince.

Suki and he knew, they just knew, and Sokka obviously knew as well that Zuko shouldn't be here, not tonight. He knelt quickly, unwilling to look at the disappointment in Sokka's face at his unexpected and surely unwelcome company.

"I just need to talk for a minute," he said quickly. Better to get this over with.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Sokka's voice didn't betray emotion other than curiosity and Zuko wondered briefly if he was just a good liar or kindhearted enough that he wouldn't just kick Zuko out.

"It's about your sister--"

~~*~~

The dull pain in Sokka's eyes as he spoke about his mother's death was achingly familiar to Zuko. He'd seen it in his own eyes before, the bewildering loss of one of the only people who'd ever cared for him. Unexpectedly, he thought of his uncle, of the disappointment in his eyes when he'd looked at him and he had to struggle to push that thought away. Not now, he told himself fiercely. He'd made his own mistakes and he was paying for them. This was about Katara and how he could help her.

"Do you remember anything about the soldiers who invaded your village?" Zuko asked, "Like what the lead ship looked like?"

"Yeah," Sokka said, slowly, considering, "Sea ravens, the main ship had flags with sea ravens on them."

"The southern raiders," Zuko murmured. "Thank you, Sokka." He started to rise.

Sokka sprawled back on his bedroll, propping his chin on one hand. "So now that you've got what you want from me, you're just going to leave."

Startled, Zuko stopped, still half-kneeling. "But Suki is—" waiting, he couldn't say, not quite willing to acknowledge what she was waiting for. I don't want to intrude, he couldn't say. He was already intruding, invading Sokka and Suki's relationship and no matter how wrong or shameful it was, he couldn't bring himself to stop. He'd given up everything to come here, to do what was right. He'd given up Mai. Couldn't he be allowed this, just this one little thing?

Sokka gave him a wry smile, "You really think five minutes more is going to make a difference?"

It was the first time they'd openly admitted what was going on but Zuko's pride was more distracted by the actual words, "Five minutes!" he sputtered, half stepping away as a hand curled around his ankle.

"If you think you can do better, prove it."

Zuko wasn't sure where Sokka had learned that sultry little voice or how to pout in such a way that his lips seemed to beg to be kissed. Natural talent he supposed; it stood to reason that Sokka would be talented at_ something_. Warm hands drew him down and Zuko followed them, almost mesmerized. He shouldn't do this, he shouldn't even be here but Sokka's mouth was wet and warm and sweet, and the hand slipping in his trousers was making itself at home in the damp heat there, curling around him. It was impossible not to gasp, to push up into Sokka's grip and the callused thumb pressing just under the tip.

Burying his face into Sokka's chest muffled the urgent sounds escaping him but it couldn't stop them and Zuko had to moan at the pleasure of it, the breathy, _dirty_ little things Sokka was whispering above him, urging him-

"C'mon, yeah, that's it. So hot like this, come on, Zuko."

His fingers caught and held Sokka's tunic, gripping the thin fabric and bare legs were against his own, twined with his as Zuko arched up and came, biting the tip of his own tongue and choking off his cry.

His clothes were clammy with sweat and clinging to him, Zuko noted distantly, the same way he noticed Sokka was busily rearranging him, pushing him over to lie on his stomach, tugging his pants down and shoving his tunic up so that he could glide slim fingers over Zuko's bare back.

"You know, I actually think that was more like two minutes." Soft laughter in his ear.

"Shut up," Zuko said weakly. It wasn't his fault, he hadn't been expecting an orgasm tonight, it wasn't his turn, dammit.

Stroking fingers turned into lips, Sokka pressing kisses low on his back and Zuko squirmed uncomfortably. "I should probably go."

"I beg your pardon. Some of us are still waiting for our happy ending."

That much was obvious, as Sokka straddled him and showed him with firm pressure exactly what part of him was waiting. It made him swallow dryly, to feel it pressed firmly against his backside even with a layer of clothes between them. Suki was waiting, it was Suki's turn--"

"Suki-" he started weakly, gasping as Sokka rocked his hips against him.

"Nope, just me. If Suki has one of these, it's a recent acquirement," Sokka said dryly, pressing an openmouthed kiss against his scarred ear.

"You know what I mean!"

"Zuko, Suki probably went to bed."

Startled, trying to turn his head enough to look at Sokka. All it did was expose the line of his throat to Sokka's wandering lips. "Why would she--"

"Because you're here."

Because he was intruding. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" That made Sokka pause, hips stilling.

"For intruding on your time with Suki."

"My time with--" he felt Sokka frown against the back of his neck, "You're acting like I'm a slice of cake that you have to divide. It's not really like that. All of us are going through a lot right now and you needed this tonight. There isn't a scale measuring this out, you know."

"But I--"

"Look, I know you haven't been keen to talk about this but since it came up, I gotta tell you. Suki was only coming tonight because she knew you wouldn't."

"She's special to you, you shouldn't have to--" he struggled for an explanation. "Be away from her," he finished lamely.

A soft sigh, gusting damp breath against his neck."You do realize what Suki and I do while you and Aang are practicing firebending, don't you."

"What are you--" talking about, he didn't say, dawning realization. It wasn't a fair sharing of time, Suki was getting an extra portion of Sokka during the day. He'd thought, he'd thought...but Sokka's hand was moving slickly between his legs, one finger sliding inside him and Zuko winced, squirming at the unexpected invasion.

"Relax, will you?"

This they had definitely never talked about. "Not until you explain why I have to be on the bottom!" he panted. That finger pushed in a little deeper and he still hadn't decided what to do about it, but the decision was rapidly being taken away from him.

"Because, this will probably hurt a little and you handle pain better than I do."

"So then why would I want to do it at all?"

"Suki swears it will feel great."

Suki was probably trying to get rid of the competition, Zuko thought sourly.

"Then why don't you do it with Suki?" That was not a whimper. He might not be a prince any longer but he was certainly a warrior and warriors did not--"Ah!"

"There, that's it," Sokka murmured almost to himself but Zuko would have agreed frantically if he could have spoken, yes, that was it, it was definitely it, one slick finger became two and both of them pressing just there sent him flying, made him scramble up on his knees to feel it better and when Sokka slipped his fingers out, Zuko's moan was pure protest, fading off as he felt something larger, hotter, pushing inside him.

"Oh," Sokka said, weakly, his forehead pressed sweatily between Zuko's shoulder blades, his hands on Zuko's hips as he edged inside. It did hurt, Sokka had been right about that, but the pain just made Zuko want to spread his legs further, push back against that invading pressure and get it just there, just there. There.

He had to move, had to push back into every thrust and the sounds Sokka was making echoed in his head, down his belly and straight to his cock, fisting it in his own hand and moving frantically with Sokka, needing this, and it was so, so good.

~~*~~

The moon was low in the sky by the time Zuko crept out of Sokka's tent. He'd left the other boy snoring, snuffling into the folds of his blanket as Zuko silently dressed. He winced a little at the unfamiliar ache and his knees still felt a little rubbery but all and all, it was nothing that wouldn't fade. Almost, he wanted it to last a little, some tangible sign that this was happening.

But now wasn't the time. Quietly, he made his way to Katara's tent to wait outside. Sokka had been a minor detour for the evening, now it was time to focus on Katara. Unwillingly, his eyes were drawn to another tent, still and silent in the growing predawn light. If Suki was in her tent, she was as silent as the grave, not a whisper of breath from her.

No, he told himself fiercely. Katara needed to avenge her mother and he was going to help her. Elbows resting on his knees, Zuko drowsed as he waited for Katara to wake up.

It wasn't until the next night that he thought about it again, sitting in Appa's riding basket and watching Katara at the reins. That little ache was nearly gone, barely a reminder whenever he shifted his weight. Sokka was probably with Suki right now, he knew that, and it was all right. It was fine.

Tonight wasn't his night.

TBC


	4. Conflicted

Conflicted

By Keelywolfe

Sokka/Zuko, hints of Sokka/Suki

NC-17

Summary: Set towards the end of The Southern Raiders. Just how did Team Avatar end up at the Fire Lord's vacation house, anyway?

~*~

It was the warm scent of brewing tea that woke Sokka, drifting into his tent and curling tantalizingly around them. He lifted his head from where it was buried in Suki's smooth shoulder and inhaled deeply, as if he could pull the tea inside himself through scent alone.

If someone was brewing tea that smelled that wonderful it could only mean one thing: Zuko and Katara were back. Something in his belly gave a silvery leap, like a fish, and Sokka slit open his eyes to look up at the dark canvas that made up his tent. There was warm fur at his feet, Momo curled up against his toes, which, okay, he'd only been joking when he'd asked Aang if he could borrow the lemur for a week but darned if the little critter hadn't managed to attach himself to Sokka whenever he could.

"Mmmm," Suki stirred next to him, stretching beneath the blanket so that warm expanses of bare skin rubbed against Sokka in an entirely pleasant way. "Smells like Zuko is back. That's a relief."

"Yeah," Sokka said agreeably, "I was starting to get worried about him and Katara. I mean, I know they can handle themselves but a whole group of raiders--"

Suki rolled over to look at him, a smile curving her lips. "I meant that it's a relief to have some decent tea again. I don't know what Aang did when he brewed it, but," she shivered delicately. "It wasn't a good thing."

"He scorches it," Sokka said absently, inhaling the fragrant air again, "Zuko says that you have to get the water hot but not boiling otherwise it ruins the leaves."

The blanket shifted as Suki wriggled up to prop her head on her hands, pulling up high enough that Sokka's bare feet slipped free and into the cool air. He pulled them back under, grumbling under his breath even as Suki laughed softly. "So that's what you and Zuko talk about? Making tea?"

"We don't actually talk that much," Sokka muttered.

That sweet little smile twisted into something closer to a smirk. "Oh, really? He told me the other night that he just needed to talk to you. He was in there with you for a really long time, it must have been some talk."

"What can I say, I'm a great conversationalist," Sokka said breezily. "Haven't heard a single complaint yet."

Abruptly, a burst of air flung the tent flap back and Aang darted inside before they could even get the blanket straightened between them.

"Sokka, Zuko is bac--ack!" Interesting to see that even Aang's tattoos would darken if he was embarrassed enough. Zuko was standing right behind him and his blush was fainter, for all that his skin was shades paler than Aang's. His only response was to politely avert his eyes, studying the tips of his boots with the sort of concentration usually reserved for training exercises.

Well, this was just too much fun to let go so quickly.

"We know, we can smell it," Sokka called cheerily, sitting up enough to let the blanket slide dangerously close to his lap.

A slightly horrified look crossed Zuko's face and with a thumb and forefinger he pulled the front of his shirt up to his nose, sniffing gingerly.

Suki laughed, holding the blanket in front of her as she sat up, "We meant the tea. You always make such wonderful tea."

"Thank you," Zuko said with obvious surprise and pleasure. His eyes flicked up at Sokka and his blush deepened.

"Um, yeah," Aang stammered. "Tea. Um, while you and Katara were gone, we were trying to figure out where we should go from here."

"Yeah, we need to go someplace safe, where they won't be looking for us," Sokka said thoughtfully, pressing a finger against his lips as if he was considering all the options available to them. He cast a sly glance at Zuko from beneath his lashes before he licked the tip of his finger, rubbing the damp tip against his lips.

Muscles in Zuko's jaw flexed and tightened, his nostrils flaring slightly as he drew in a sharp breath. He turned quickly away, looking out across the water. For a second, Sokka was worried he'd gone a bit too far but Zuko turned back, a thoughtful crease to his brow.

"I know a place we can go. No one will look for us there. Katara is already there, waiting for us. After we faced the man who," he hesitated, glancing at Sokka, who gestured impatiently for him to continue. "The man who killed your mother, she wanted to be alone for a while and it was on the way. I don't see why we couldn't just stay there." He shrugged a little. "The house is dusty but it would be a roof over our heads."

"Wait, wait, wait," Sokka shook his head. "I am the man who makes the plans. I am the man with the map. So you can just come over here and tell me where this place is and I'll figure things out from there." He patted the blanket between him and Suki, hopefully, because for the past two days that was just the place he'd really wanted Zuko to be.

That got Zuko's attention. His head snapped up, eyes widening and the faint blush still staining his cheeks flared to a crimson that nearly matched his shirt. "It's...it's called Ember Island...just...it's that way..." he gestured somewhat wildly at the ocean before he spun on his heel and walked quickly towards the fire.

"You left Katara alone on a Fire Nation island!" Aang's outraged voice faded as he darted after Zuko, the tent flap falling back into place.

Flopping back onto the bedroll, Sokka slapped his forehead with one hand, "Stupid, stupid," he muttered.

Suki leaned over him, her expression was somewhere between amused and sympathetic. "Figured you just had to try, didn't you."

"He told me he liked girls!"

"That doesn't mean he likes all girls," Suki said. She drew up her blanket covered knees and rested her arms on them. "You shouldn't push him, he--"

The tent flap parting stopped her and they both looked up to see Zuko, a small tray with two steaming cups on it in his hands. He didn't look at either of them, only slipped inside and held the tray out, offering.

"Aang wants to get going so we check on Katara," he said quietly.

"Okay," Suki said easily, taking one of the offered cups. She held it up and inhaled deeply before gingerly sipping. "Mm, thank you. Much better than Aang's."

"You're welcome." Ever polite, Zuko offered the tray to Sokka.

"Yeah, thanks," Sokka roughly snatched his own cup, hissing as hot tea sloshed over his hand. He set the cup down, sucking on his stinging fingers. It was almost an accident that he glanced up and met Zuko's eyes, saw the sudden surge of heat crackling in his gaze as he watched Sokka draw his wet fingers from his mouth.

It was an endless moment, golden eyes focused on blue, and Sokka's mind went blank, no quip or clever remark forming to break the tension. He just couldn't look away, sinking into that warm gold like honey and a slow burn formed in the pit of his stomach and lower.

The faint sound of Suki sipping her tea made them both blink, Zuko shivering faintly before he nodded quickly to them both and backed out of the tent. Sokka watched him go silently, shaking his head a little. There were faint beads of sweat rising on his forehead and he wiped at them with the back of his hand.

"Interesting," Suki said as she stretched, setting aside her cup and reaching for her clothes. "I was going to say he's been through a lot, but I'm not sure if that's the problem."

"Yeah? Then what is his problem?" Sokka rolled over and pawed through their tangled clothes looking for his own leggings.

Suki shrugged delicately. "Who knows? All I know is that he has been through a lot, leaving his home and his family, then what happened between you two in the prison."

"Yeah," Sokka said, subdued. It wasn't a memory he particularly enjoyed, the feelings that rose in him when he thought about it were conflicted at best. He couldn't regret it because it had given him Zuko but he couldn't forget the laughter of that guard, the feeling of sweat creeping down his face from his hair, Zuko's swollen lips, the glint of his eyes in that dank little room.

A gentle hand on his shoulder tore him from the memory. Suki smiled down at him with warm sympathy. "Come on, Aang is waiting."

She slipped out of the tent and Sokka followed, still carrying his boots as he yanked his shirt over his head. He barely had it settled when something grabbed the back of his collar and jerked him backwards, his boots flopping to the ground.

"Erk!" His surprised squawk was cut off by a vicious mouth, teeth cutting into his lips as he was slammed into the ground and a hard body settled over his own. All he could do was clutch at the hard hands sweeping feverishly over him, opening his mouth to the savage tongue stabbing at his own. Tasted sweet tea and faint blood, and oh, a knee pressing firmly between his legs just where he needed it.

It was gone as swiftly as it came, Zuko tearing away from him and stumbling back. Sokka stared at the other boy, both of them panting desperately. Zuko looked away first, hands clenching into fists with a faint rush of sparks.

"Tonight," Zuko grated out through freshly swollen lips and Sokka nodded dumbly, lying on the ground with his own mouth bruised and a heavy ache between his legs. A sharp nod and Zuko stalked away.

Sokka took a deep breath and blew it out, another, before he gingerly stood up. "Been through a lot," Sokka muttered. Yeah. His mouth was sore and when he licked his lips he tasted coppery blood from a small cut. Yeesh. And Suki said he shouldn't push Zuko?

He grinned suddenly, scooping up a boot and hopping on one foot as he tugged it on. Tonight, yeah.

He could wait.

tbc


	5. Manly Pursuits

Chapter 5: Manly Pursuits

By Keelywolfe

Summary: Set just after 'The Southern Raiders', Team Avatar has arrived on Ember Island.

~~*~~

Sokka had known for a long time that he was the one who had to make the plans. It was the way of the world, the flow of the chi, if you would. Some people were benders, some people, or, well, one person actually, was the Avatar, and he was the one who could read a map so they didn't end up flying in circles all day long.

That was the way of things and it'd worked pretty well so far.

But he had to admit, that as a guy with a plan, Zuko wasn't too shabby. The Fire Lord's vacation home was a heck of a lot nicer than camping out and living near an actual town meant there was actual food to be had. Meaty food, a little spicy, true, but meat! Yeah, Zuko could definitely be second in command as far as plans went.

It was a shame that the plan for sex tonight wasn't working out quite as well.

When they'd first arrived on Ember Island, Zuko and Aang had wandered off to talk to Katara and he'd been pretty fine with that. It wasn't that he didn't understand Katara's desire to revenge their mother's death. No, he had a pretty good handle on that one. But he'd figured out a long time ago that even if he did kill the bastard, it wouldn't bring their mother back. All he'd have was an empty heart and blood on his hands.

But if Katara had needed to figure that out on her own, that was okay, too. She could even borrow Zuko to do it but dammit, she was supposed to give him back. It was dusk now and the jerk was nowhere to be found.

Part of the problem was the house was too big. Who needed a vacation house with a dozen bedrooms, sitting rooms, two kitchens, and even servant's quarters? Sokka knew because he had already searched all of them and found zip. No Zuko.

Slipping outside through one of the way too many doors, Sokka walked silently around the path that wound through to the courtyard. It was dark, light barely seeping out through the windows to color it in shades of dim and Appa was curled up near the fountain, his bulk a pale smear against the darker night.

Appa made a soft, lowing sound and Sokka started towards him, only to stumble to a stop and stare at his suddenly found objective.

It was times like this that he could really use a witness because all of the world should know about it. The former prince of the Fire Nation with two hands buried up to the elbow in shaggy white fur as he scratched behind Appa's ear. The bison huffed out another groan of appreciation, tilting his head and Zuko obligingly scratched there as well.

"There you are, big guy, that's a good boy," Zuko murmured.

Sokka held back in the shadows, silently watching. Sometimes it was hard to reconcile this gentle, slightly awkward boy with the one who'd been chasing them all that time.

"You really are an ugly thing, aren't you?"

And sometimes it wasn't.

Appa crooned as Zuko found a new choice spot to scratch and then took the opportunity to give the boy a slobbery full body lick, soaking him in saliva.

"Ugh," Zuko sputtered, shaking out his arms. "Ugly and drooly." He still smiled, fending off another attack to reach into his tunic. "I know, this is what you're really after."

Sokka narrowed his eyes, peering into the dimness to see what Zuko was holding. Round and red, the perfect specimen of an apple. Appa eagerly opened his mouth and Zuko tossed it in the wet cavern of tongue, still smiling faintly as Appa crunched away, nuzzling at Zuko's tunic in search of another.

"So here you are," Sokka said, crossing his arms and leaning back against a stone pillar. It was completely worth it to see Zuko startled, faint sparks tingling from his fingertips as he moved automatically into a firebending posture.

Sokka yawned, unappreciative. "Are you sneaking Appa treats? After Aang just said he was getting a little round and needed to cut back?"

Zuko started guiltily, dropping his hands. "It's one apple! How much difference could one apple make in a creature this size?"

Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"And he was hungry," Zuko said, a little sullenly. "He was begging me!"

"Appa started talking today, too? No one ever tells me anything."

With a last glare, Zuko turned away, focusing his attention on Appa as though if he stopped scratching the bison, the world would end in despair. Shifting a little from foot to foot, Sokka tried to decide if Zuko was actually upset. It wasn't like he was a happy ray of sunshine at the best of times and trying to tell the difference between sad, depressed little Zuko and completely normal depressed Zuko was sort of giving Sokka a headache.

Oh, man. What if he needed to _talk_? This was definitely not his area of expertise. Aang was the 'in touch with his inner girl, please, chat me up' guy of the group and Sokka was more than happy to steer anyone who seemed like they needed any verbal massaging in his direction. Sokka preferred the more manly pursuits, like insults and wrestling and sex. Very manly.

Except for how this was Zuko, and Sokka had been in and out of his pants, and other parts of him, for the better part of a couple weeks now, so if there was any massaging to be done, verbal or otherwise, it really shouldn't be Aang doing it.

Talking. Right.

"So, ah, how did everything go with Katara?" Sokka fumbled out, twisting his hands together awkwardly and readied himself mentally for the flood of emotional goo that was sure to follow.

Zuko's hands stilled and he slowly drew them away from Appa despite the bison's groaning protest. Biting his lip, he turned to look at Sokka, his eyes still bright in the shadowy twilight. Sokka braced himself; here it came.

"Could we not talk about it right now? Because I'd really rather just suck you off."

It took a minute for those words to trickle through the angst filter that Sokka had thrown up in his brain and another minute for him to stop gaping at Zuko, and geez, who knew a prince could talk so _dirty_ and not even hint at a blush. He really needed to do it a lot more often.

He found himself squeaking out a feeble little, "Okay!", his mouth obviously deciding that it didn't have time for his brain to catch up and then Zuko was fisting his hands into Sokka's tunic, turning him and pushing him up against the warm, furry wall of Appa's side before he just dropped to his knees.

They hadn't done this all that many times, barely more than a handful that they had to sneak when his father was around, and Suki, too, but Zuko was obviously a fast learner, barely fumbling at his belt before he tugged Sokka's trousers down to his knees.

His mouth was wet and pink and _hot,_ this fantastic cavern of damp heat around him, and Sokka couldn't even strangle out a yelp before Zuko was swallowing him deeply, the sweet curl of his tongue around the head made Sokka throw back his head and gasp at the sky, briefly, insanely, grateful that the moon was hidden by clouds tonight.

Firebender, he thought dizzily, his hips rocking forward without his permission and he had two handfuls of Zuko's hair clenched between his fingers, whimpering as Zuko obligingly tipped his head up and took him that much deeper, velvety wetness and heat inside, so wickedly hot and he came so hard that the cloud-hidden stars swam instead behind his eyelids, weakening his knees until he sank down to the ground, sprawled out and just plain used.

He opened his eyes just in time to see Zuko lick his lips, the wet gleam of his mouth enticing enough to make him twitch painfully in hidden parts.

"You really do like that, don't you." His own mouth apparently didn't know how to shut up while his brain was still on vacation and Sokka winced at how that sounded. He could have possibly phrased that so it didn't sound so...astonished.

Zuko didn't seem offended; he actually smiled a little, lips still faintly swollen. "Yeah, I really do. It's powerful."

"Powerful?" Sokka frowned. "Buddy, it looked a lot like you were the one on your knees to me." He bit his tongue a fraction of a second too late, stupid, stupid, mouth, he wanted Zuko to like it, wanted him to do it again, so stay shut!

This time he got an offended look, golden eyes narrowing in that pissy little way Zuko had. Without a word, he bared his teeth and clicked them together sharply.

Sokka flinched, cringing from the very thought of it. "Okay, yeah, powerful."

Hesitantly, not because his mouth was stupid but because he just...he had to know. "In the prison, would you...would you have bitten the guard?"

Heat flared in Zuko's eyes that was nothing like passion, almost glowing in the darkness. How had he and his uncle ever managed to hide in Bai Sing Sai, you could _see_ the fire in him, some indefinable core of him burned hotly in a way that could never be disguised.

"I don't take orders well," Zuko said, that heat filling his voice.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Sokka said dryly and because he'd had enough of all the chatter, he decided to go with the more manly pursuit of more sex, leaning in to lick at Zuko's swollen mouth. It was like he'd given permission for something to break free, Zuko grabbing him by his shoulders and pushing him back against Appa, warm fur at his back and eager hands at his front, bordering on frantic.

It made Sokka laugh, breathlessly, into Zuko's mouth as he tried to get past those fumbling hands and onto a little bare skin himself. "If you'd hold still, I'll give you what you want."

"If I keep moving, I can just take it," Zuko whispered against his mouth, tongue dipping inside. It almost distracted Sokka from the hand sliding down his back to his ass, cupping one cheek and squeezing firmly.

Sokka's breath froze in his lungs, his tongue stilling against Zuko's and with startling perception, Zuko paused, pulling away and searching Sokka's face. "No?"

The sticky-sweet afterglow faded abruptly away, leaving him feeling chilled in all the places Zuko wasn't pressed against. But he couldn't say no, didn't have the right, he'd gotten his turn and he was a man, he could do this.

Where Zuko had suddenly gotten his perception Sokka wasn't sure, but he had poor timing. "Sokka, we don't have to."

"I want to," he said firmly, skinning his pants down and off. He could do this, he wasn't stupid, he understood the concept of fair trade and Zuko had barely offered a protest when Sokka had taken his frustrations out on his ass, so it was okay. He could do this. It was his turn.

He slipped down to his knees, resting his weight on his elbows. It was almost worth it to see Zuko's shocked expression, slowly turning again to heat and that made Sokka look away, focusing his attention on the rocky ground beneath him. Okay, they could have picked a better venue, but Sokka was nothing if not adaptable.

Warm hands skimmed over his backside, smoothing over his skin. The bare brush of a fingertip between his cheeks made him tense a little. Sokka took a deep breath and forced it out, holding perfectly still as Zuko prodded slightly deeper, testing lightly. That fingertip slipped away but before Sokka could feel more than a moment of relief it returned, slick this time and when the hell had the prince of Fire Nation decided to start carrying around lube? How was he planning on explaining it to anyone, that he had it in case someone needed an emergency massage?

That finger pressed a little deeper, just inside, and Sokka grunted a little, burying his face in his folded arms.

"You need to relax," Zuko murmured, his breath warm against Sokka's bare hip.

"I'm fine!"

"Sokka, I can't--"

"Just do it!" he snapped, pushing his hips up like he could force Zuko inside. He could handle the pain, dammit, they didn't need to natter on about it like cowbirds.

The sudden increase in pressure against him and suddenly Zuko's finger was completely inside him and oh, gods, it_ burned_, deep and unrelenting and he couldn't help tensing against it, his whole body stiffening in rejection.

As quickly as it had come, it was gone, the burn fading. A faint involuntary sob of relief slipped free of Sokka's throat. He swallowed it away, shooting Zuko a look over his shoulder.

"Wh--you stopped?"

"I can't do this," Zuko said with quiet firmness.

"What? Why?" Sokka rolled over, frustration thick in his throat, bitter and hot. "I didn't say you should stop!"

Zuko sighed heavily. "Sokka, I couldn't even if I wanted to." He gestured at his body and even in the dark Sokka could see he wasn't the slightest bit aroused anymore. Frustration surged into humiliation, how could Zuko not want him?

"You're sixteen!" Sokka exploded, "How does that even happen!"

The other boy's lips thinned into a white line and he stood up, roughly straightening his clothes. "If you think I can fuck you while you're shaking and terrified beneath me then you have a much lower opinion of me than I thought."

Sokka gaped at him, his own anger draining away. He was as shocked by the obscenity as he was by Zuko abruptly storming away, ignoring Appa's lowing farewell. The most heated thing he'd ever heard Zuko say before was 'stupid'.

It took him a second to realize that every moment he sat here bare-assed, Zuko was getting further away and probably into a better hiding spot.

"Wait!" he yelped, yanking on his pants, hopping after Zuko on one foot as he desperately tried to tug them up. He gave up on the ties, holding them closed with one hand as he darted after the other boy.

Zuko had managed to get a fair distance away in his temper, refusing to look at Sokka when he jogged up.

"C'mon, wait!" He caught at Zuko's elbow gingerly. Zuko slowed but kept his head turned away, letting Sokka see only the scarred half of his face. Sokka sighed, scrubbed a hand over his own face. "I don't think anything like...what you said, all right? I don't think that."

"Then what do you think?" Zuko asked acidly and Sokka winced at his tone. Pure princely sullenness in that one.

"I just--I need to do this!" Sokka burst out. "I have to!"

"You have to?" Zuko repeated, tipping his head enough to look at Sokka in disbelief. "Why do you have to?"

"I--" Sokka trailed away and now it was his turn to look at the dirt. The rocks didn't provide any answers. The tips of his boots were worn and scuffed but had nothing to add. "I have to..." Sokka muttered, finally. "It's my turn."

"Your turn," Zuko echoed him again, utterly bewildered. "Your turn to what...to _bottom_?"

"I have to!" Sokka burst out in a furious whisper. "You did it!"

For a long moment, all Zuko did was stare at him, mouth working slowly, soundlessly, until he finally turned away, shoulders quivering. Oh, geez, he wasn't...he couldn't be crying, could he? But when he turned back his eyes were clear and shining perhaps a bit too brightly.

"Okay," Zuko said, a bit strangled. "I understand where you're coming from. I get it. But, Sokka, you do know that I'm not exactly keeping score, right? I--" he choked up again, biting his lip fiercely as a sound almost like a laugh slipped free. "Sokka, I swear, this is the first time I've ever heard of anyone trying to get fucked to prove their manliness."

Proving your manliness had nothing to do with fairness, Sokka didn't point out, mostly because the sound of Zuko's raspy voice spitting out obscenities like jewels was kind of hot. Super hot.

"Say that again," Sokka demanded, grabbing the front of Zuko's tunic.

He smirked, tilting his head so that his hair spilled lightly against his cheek in inky trails, golden eyes shaded under his lashes.

"What, fucked?" Zuko purred it, breathed it against Sokka's shoulder and he couldn't form a single word of protest when Zuko tugged him down, shoving him back against a stone pillar as he loosened Sokka's pants, hot hands slipping inside and touching him in entirely wonderful ways.

"Wait...I have to...it's..." Sokka shook his head as words, his trusty companions, failed him and left him utterly inarticulate.

"Shhh," Zuko murmured, easing his own pants open until they were pressed against each other, the feel of bare skin making him gasp and his last orgasm could have been years away instead of only a few minutes as Zuko took them both in hand, stroking with wicked, quick touches.

"But I--" Sokka tried, weakly.

"Let me do this?" Zuko begged softly, "I want this."

Fairness would have to wait. The hot pressure of Zuko's a hand holding their cocks together was tangled in with Zuko's mouth on his own, the hot sweep of his tongue sliding slickly against his own as Zuko stroked them brutally, going for his own orgasm as only a man could and just dragging Sokka along for the ride. And that was fine, that was perfect, Sokka arching up with a cry as wet heat spilled between them, Zuko's low moan muffled into Sokka's shoulder as he shivered and came.

"Oh...gods...Zuko...you..." Words were just not going to make peace with him tonight.

"Just Zuko is fine, I'll leave being a god to someone more qualified," Zuko murmured, faint laughter in his voice. It made Sokka want to say something, do something, to make that laughter come out for once and what had made Zuko so determined to stifle his emotions away? That burning he felt when he thought of the Fire Lord was sharpening into a purer hatred, colder, like deep, black ice.

It was hard to think about it with Zuko still pressed against him, terribly sexy with his cheeks flushed and his lips wet, panting slightly.

"Come back to bed with us." He said it without thinking, words that had abandoned him suddenly tumbling stupidly free to form just the wrong thing.

Zuko flinched; there was no other word for it. All that sweet, heavy bliss pooling between them faded like steam and wordlessly, Zuko did up his trousers, hopping to his feet in a graceful little move that made Sokka want to roll him right back to the ground. His expression warned Sokka against trying, completely closed, eyes shuttered.

"Zuko..." he exhaled, let it trail away.

"Goodnight," Zuko whispered, barely audible. He left Sokka sprawled on the ground, walking too quickly away as he was absorbed into the darkness.

Sokka sighed and let him go, wincing as all the little rocks and pebbles from the path made themselves known. Squinting a little down on the ground, Sokka suddenly realized that he and Zuko had actually had sex on the path where anyone could have just walked on up and gotten an eyeful. Or in Toph's case, a footful.

He basked a little in the manly pride of that before he finally rolled to his feet, trudging back to the house with less enthusiasm and more exhaustion than Zuko had shown. At least one warm body was waiting for him to come back and she wasn't going to take off and play hard to get.

That night he dreamt of the moon, the pale oval of it hanging behind his eyes as he buried his face in the sweet curve of Suki's shoulder and slept the justifiably exhausted sleep of the well-sexed and in his dream there was warmth behind him as well, the almost too-hot pressure of bare skin and in sleep, he never noticed the emptiness, dreaming of something more.

tbc

I hope everyone is enjoying the series so far! I'd love to hear any comments or thoughts! -- Keely


	6. Interlude: Aang

Chapter 6: Interlude: Aang

By Keelywolfe

Summary: Set during the previous chapter 'Manly Pursuits'

* * *

If you were willing to ignore the whole conquering the world thing, the fire nation was kind of cool. Of course, most people were completely unwilling to do that, what with all the war and destruction and stuff.

Still, the Fire Lord did have a pretty cool house. Underneath the dust and weird knickknacks was a house with a sense of history and dignity and also an insanely cool banister that he and Sokka had rigged so you could sort of slide down it if you balanced right, or up it if you were an airbender and balanced really, really right. He and Toph and Sokka took a go every morning. Katara always shook her head and pursed her lips in a way that made Aang think she was chewing on the words she wanted to say and the first time he'd seen it, Zuko had looked sort of like he was about to have an aneurism from being forced to be around all that laughter and fun. At least he hadn't told them to stop.

It made Aang wonder if he was really as stuffy as all that, if maybe under all that gloomy dignity he was wishing he could give it a try. He'd brushed off any offers, though, even when Sokka had thrown himself to the ground and begged loudly for him to just give it a try, dammit.

Okay, so Zuko had looked at Sokka like he'd sprouted a tail and boar-q-pine quills, and had left pretty quickly after that. It didn't mean he didn't secretly want to try...

Aang shook his head. Even in his own thoughts he was rambling tonight. It was just insanely hot and sticky, was all, and how the Fire Nation people could live in this, he would never understand. It felt like he was breathing through a heavy, damp cloth and he couldn't sleep. He'd been tossing around, sheets kicked to the floor, when he'd finally decided that a quick dip in the fountain sounded like a fine idea.

Outside it was dark and it felt even hotter. Even without the heat , he didn't quite dare light a flame to find his way. Zuko had said no one would look for them here but it didn't seem wise to light up a supposedly empty house like it was a festival night.

Besides, he knew the way pretty well, managing to stub his toes only once on a rocky outcropping and he bit his own tongue to muffle his yelp of pain, rubbing his foot fiercely before stomping the offending rock flat. That was one piece of earth that would never attack unsuspecting toes again.

He was nearly at the fountain when he heard a soft noise, murmuring voices. Mostly curious but a tiny bit alarmed, Aang walked quietly towards the sound, creeping through the shrubbery edging the path. Had someone found them here already, some suspicious villager making sure that no one was pillaging the great Fire Lord's bathing suits?

They were male voices, that much he could tell, whispering in that furious way that was secretly a shout. Zuko and Sokka, he realized, relief so deep in him that he shivered with it. It was way too hot to get into a squabble with someone who was likely to try toasting them all.

Okay, so no fight tonight but that left another question: what were Zuko and Sokka up talking about, anyway.

The last time Zuko and Sokka had secretly gotten together, they'd taken a trip to a Fire Nation prison, recued Sokka's dad and Suki, and managed to steal an airship. On Aang's field trip they'd gotten gooey and licked clean by weird furry creatures which clearly showed that the universe had no sense of fairness where adventure was concerned so there was no way Aang was missing out on another excursion. Hey, they'd seen dragons, which was sweet, but really, prison riots and escape plans. The scales were clearly not in his favor. Time to bust in on this party.

Aang darted out of the brush, the bright words in his throat catching and fading and the hand he had raised in greeting sort of wilted, drifting down to fall back to his side as he slowed to a stop.

Okay...they weren't arguing. Unless you considered mashing your face against someone else's arguing and Aang really didn't...oh, yeah, he could see some tongue there, too. What were they _doing_?

Sokka made a weird, high little sound and Aang felt a blush spread over him so deeply it was a wonder that the air around him didn't get pink. All right, so he knew what they were doing. The monks hadn't been naïve in instructing their pupils but if there had been a class covering _this_, Aang had been frozen in an iceberg during it. They were...kissing and touching and little grunts and noises and wow, this was not at all the kind of adventure he'd wanted to get in on.

Carefully, Aang backed out the way he'd come in, taking each step like the tiniest pebble might explode. Not that he needed to bother; Zuko and Sokka seemed pretty intent on the task at hand....er...so to speak.

"Okay, soooo," Aang muttered under his breath, hurrying down the path. "Zuko and Sokka are doing...things. With each other. At the same time."

At that moment, Aang was equally aware of two things, the first being that if Zuko and Sokka wanted to go on a field trip together, he really, really didn't want to tag along. No adventure was that good. The second was that he wanted to be in that fountain about ten minutes ago so he could not think about this any more.

Yeah, the fountain. Maybe some waterbending practice might be good right now. Soothing, even. Just him, alone, with a lot of nice, cold water.

Yeah.

When he got to the fountain, Aang jumped in, clothes and all, sloshing through the water and splashing it on his hot face and head. Soaking through and gleaming wet, he flopped back into the water and floated, staring up at the velvety black sky with its weaving of stars.

It was pretty, really, the sky clear and the water cool...Sokka and Zuko making out right on the path. Aang sighed to himself. Yeah, his brain was probably not going to let that go really soon. It was twirling dizzily with questions, was this a firebender thing? He didn't recall any waterbenders in the South Pole going for other guys but he hadn't been really looking for it, and there was Suki, and what were they...why were they...and who could he even ask? Not Toph, not Katara...

Aang sighed again, climbing slowly out of the water and smoothly drawing all the wetness from his clothes with a flick of his hands. He tossed it back into the fountain, and started the slow walk back to his room. He was cooler and clean, and seriously tired, but somehow, Aang didn't think sleep was going to come much easier.

The path was empty, no sign that the other boys had been there at all and if he didn't have irrefutable evidence that he was awake, Aang might have hopefully thought he'd dreamed it. But a dip in the fountain wasn't something you could sleep through and that little sound Sokka had made, sweet and high and pleading, was echoing in the back of Aang's head.

It made him blush, skin overheating all over again and when he got to the stairs, the only thing he did with the banister was rest a hand on it as he climbed up. Slipping quietly into his own room, Aang stripped down and got into bed, closing his eyes against a memory that came with its own weird music, moans and sighs, the soft sound of lips touching, and sleep was a long, long time coming.

TBC


	7. Say Anything

Say Anything

By Keelywolfe

NC-17

Sokka/Zukko, Zuko/Suki

Summary: Sokka had a brilliant idea. An awful idea. Sokka had a brilliant, awful idea!

* * *

Sokka had this problem. He'd had it his entire life, a glitch of sorts, almost a tic, really. Every once in a while, his mouth would open and things he never intended to say would spill out where everyone could hear it. He was kind of used to it by now, had grown accustomed to hearing himself comment on his gran gran's age or sister's wardrobe or on one memorable occasion, her weight, and he'd gotten used to the bruises involved with his little issue.

So it wasn't like he was surprised when it happened, he just wished that somewhere along the line he'd developed a little more skill in cover up. Like when they were watching Zuko and Aang go through their firebending forms. The flames weaving from their fingers had already left him glassy-eyed, watching the two boys sweating even in the early morning coolness. His mouth waited until they eased to a stop, turning and bowing to each other, before it chose to pop open and let some incredibly stupid words fall out and flop at his feet.

"I think you should do that last form again."

Both Zuko and Aang stopped, Zuko in the process of wiping his face with a small cloth and Aang eagerly taking a drink from a smiling Katara. Slurping noisily, Aang wiped at a dribble of juice on his chin before he asked, "Why? That was perfect!"

"It was adequate," Zuko corrected, toweling under his arms. "But we've been practicing all morning. I don't see a reason to do it again." He looked questioningly at Sokka, obviously waiting for his explanation. One that he didn't have because his mouth hadn't consulted with his brain first, so it left him with his mouth gaping like a fish, struggling for something to say because he couldn't go with the truth, could not say, 'Well, Aang, my dear fellow, I'd like the two of you to go through it again because Zuko is exceptionally hot when he does it, all smooth muscle and glowing skin, and when we have sex -- by the way, did I mention we're having sex? No? Well, when we do, it's always dark so I never get to see him like this, flushed and sweaty and--'...yeah. That wasn't going to be said.

Everyone was looking at him with varying degrees of curiosity, waiting. It was Suki who saved him, lovely, wonderful Suki, who piped up with, "I think you should, too." He didn't have time to gaze at her in loving gratitude because she didn't stop, "It was pretty hot."

Aang and Zuko both froze, staring at her. Aang had a straw dangling from between his lips, dripping juice and Zuko had been just about to splash cool water from the fountain on his face, the water instead leaking out from between his fingers. Both of their faces were reddening in a way that had nothing to do with exertion.

"Of course it was hot, they were firebending," Toph yawned, picking idly at her toes.

"Not hot fire," Suki scoffed, "Hot hot, you know sweaty muscles and all that."

Aang and Zuko were both brilliantly red and Zuko was already pulling his shirt on with unseemly haste, the fabric catching on his damp skin. Sokka sighed inwardly, cursing his stupid mouth with its stupid ways.

"I guess it's nice if you like that sort of thing," Toph grumbled. "But unless they want to come over and give a girl a feel, I guess you'll have to enjoy it on your own."

Aang was nearly purple, practically gobbling in his efforts to say something and Zuko took the opportunity to flee, walking just a tiny bit too fast for perfect dignity as he made his escape. Sokka glumly watched him go.

"I tried for you," Suki murmured into his ear, just loud enough that he could hear her over Aang's indignant protests. Her soft breath made goose pimples rise on his skin.

"I know," Sokka sighed. "But now he's off to..." he trailed off, slowly pushing himself upright. He knew exactly where Zuko was off to because he went there every day after their firebending practice. Every day.

His mouth may be stupid but Sokka's brain managed to make up for it from time to time and oh, it had a whopper of a plan this time.

"C'mon," Sokka hissed, grabbing Suki's hand and tugging her to her feet. She followed him somewhat bemusedly, the two of them darting down the path that Zuko had just taken. She managed to keep her peal of laughter soft when she heard his plan and it was brilliant, if Sokka did say so himself, and he did.

Zuko would never know what hit him.

~~*~~

There was something to be said for being royalty and that something was it was awesome. The proof of that was in the bath. The huge bath. The gorgeous bath that was big enough for a party and a band, if they all felt like hopping in the water. Forget the decorations, all that painting and carving junk, it was the tub that was the glory of the bath.

Sokka figured that the one in the Fire Lord's private chamber was probably even nicer but by some unspoken agreement, they had all left that wing of the house alone. Not that Sokka hadn't considered poking through all the stuff in there or maybe even burning the Fire Lord's undershorts out of spite, but it just would have been weird. Almost like the spirit of the Fire Lord might be lingering in the place where he'd slept. Besides, he figured some of Zuko's mom's stuff might be in there, too, and...yeah. You just don't disrespect a guy's mom like that.

So they stuck with the regular glorious bathing chamber instead of the super-ultra glorious, even Zuko. Zuko who was currently using it just like he did every day after Firebending practice, soaking sore muscles in lovely warm water. And conveniently, like most people who took baths, he preferred to do it naked, which made it a lot harder to flee when Sokka and Suki slipped into the room and locked the door behind them.

Really, this was just the best plan ever.

Zuko's eyes slit open then went wide as he saw them and he sat up, palming his wet hair out of his face. "What are you doing?!" The last word hit an octave that Sokka was willing to bet Zuko hadn't used since before he'd started shaving.

"Coming in," Suki said cheerfully. "The water's warm, isn't it?"

"I...you..." Zuko sputtered, words trailing off as Suki stripped off her top, breasts bouncing lightly as they were freed from the constricting cloth.

"Yeah, we thought we'd join you," Sokka agreed, watching Zuko watch Suki. This was what he'd been betting on. Zuko had said he had a girlfriend and it stood to reason that said girlfriend had had breasts. If he liked them at all, then Suki's would have to be a nice little incentive.

Suki clasped her hands behind her back and it had the effect of pushing her chest out, pink nipples hardening in the cool air, "We don't have to stay if you don't want."

Sokka almost groaned. Of course she'd give him an out. That was Suki all the way, sweet and concerned and if he didn't love her so much, he'd wring her pretty little neck.

He watched the bob of Zuko's adam's apple as he swallowed, eyes flicking to Sokka, back to Suki. C'mon, Sokka urged silently. Take the bait, they were soft and perky, no man could resist the lure of perfect boobs!

"You can stay," Zuko said slowly, and Sokka's inner cheer was probably heard by everyone in the spirit world. His eyes flicked to Sokka again and held, blue against gold, before going back to Suki, "If that's what you want."

"Oh, we want," Sokka drawled, quickly shedding his own clothes and hopping into the water. He hissed softly, it was almost too hot, but he adjusted quickly, sliding down in it up to his chin. He let his eyes fall half-shut, watching Suki tug her hair loose, slipping off the rest of her clothes before climbing into the tub. She let out a little squeal at the temperature, sinking in up to her waist.

Zuko didn't seem to know where to look, his eyes darting nervously around before settling on the water.

"Is this all right?" Suki inquired, one wet hand lightly stroking Zuko's shoulder. He shivered, eyes flicking again to Sokka, almost desperately. Sokka nodded in what he hoped was an encouraging fashion, all but ready to toss Suki into Zuko's lap. For crying out loud, you'd think he was skinny dipping with a boar-q-pine instead of a beautiful, willing woman.

"I...yes," Zuko said, the faintest tremble in his voice. He drew a sharp breath as Suki stroked a little lower, one finger barely brushing one of his nipples.

"Have you ever done this with a woman," Suki murmured softly and Sokka could just see her tongue brushing Zuko's ear, watched golden eyes falling closed as Zuko swallowed hard.

"Not...anything like this," Zuko hedged and Sokka bit his lip to keep his mouth from dropping open because holy shit, had Zuko just confessed to being a girl-virgin? Or a virgin to girls...for girls...whatever. He'd apparently never gotten this far with his girlfriend. Who would have thought, Zuko was always so _eager_ when they were together.

Nothing like now, tentatively accepting Suki's kisses and caresses, eyes flicking constantly to Sokka as his hands slid uncertainly over her wet skin, hesitating at every curve until Suki took one and guided it herself, pushing his fingers to cup the soft swell of her breast. He was even paler than she was, the soft contrast of skin tones visible even to Sokka.

Sokka slid deeper into the water and just watched as Suki floated closer, moving to straddle the other boy. Zuko's eyes went wide, flying wildly to Sokka's and for a moment Sokka thought he was going to protest but then Suki let out a little cry, sinking down and Zuko gasped, eyes slamming shut as he arched up, trembling hands settling on Suki's shoulders.

The light bounce of her breasts as she moved up and down was hypnotizing, swaying with a gentle rhythm. Zuko's head was tipped back on the edge of the tub, eyes closed and the dark shadow of his lashes over his pale cheeks. His hands and arms flexed rhythmically with each rise and fall of Suki's body, his mouth open as he gasped harshly for quick breaths and Sokka felt on odd tightness in his stomach, not arousal although he was hard enough to practice a little earthbending himself, but something, something...

Wait, he couldn't say, wait, this isn't right.

Zuko's face tightened tellingly, the faint glimpse of pink tongue caught between his teeth and he was making tiny, urgent little sounds and Sokka knew those sounds, they were his 'oh, my god, don't stop, don't stop, I'm going to come' sounds and Sokka's own mouth was parted in protest, frozen as he watched Zuko thrust up, those faint sounds catching in Zuko's throat and then it was too late.

This...wasn't what he'd expected. He'd thought it would be hot, just the idea of the three of them was sweltering but with reality staring him in the face, Zuko biting his lip against those sweet whimpers, his fingers tight on Suki's hips and Sokka could imagine the bruises that would be there, dark, finger-shaped smudges on pale skin that wasn't his. He barely noticed Suki finishing, her sweet cries mingling with Zuko's. He'd thought of this before, all of it, but here, now...

He didn't like it. Not one fucking bit.

He was almost trembling from resisting the urge to pull Suki away, waiting for her to slip off on her own, pushing her sweaty hair back. Zuko shifted his grip to the side of the tub, his head resting on the cool stone edge as he struggled to catch his breath. Sokka didn't give him the chance, his hands moving without his permission to catch Zuko by one arm, hauling him upright. Golden eyes flew open, startled, but before Zuko could say a word Sokka said, harshly, "Turn around."

He didn't wait for Zuko to comply or protest, pushing him to kneel at the edge of the tub. Zuko only grabbed it, trying to look over his shoulder but Sokka was fumbling through the bath supplies conveniently placed on a small shelf, finding what he needed and slicking two fingers. He smoothed his free hand down Zuko's back, pressing, holding, and without warning shoved his slickened fingers inside. The sound Zuko made was nothing like the ones he'd made with Suki, only a low grunt before he spread his legs wider, angling his hips to accept Sokka's invasion.

Just the sight of him wantonly pushing back against Sokka's fingers was enough for lust to throb redly in his vision and he pulled his fingers free, shuffling forward on his knees to press his aching cock into the slick cleft of Zuko's ass.

They both moaned as Sokka pushed inside, that first thrust was one long, smooth glide and Sokka's vision sparkled, light behind his eyes as he pulled out a little, thrust back into that sweet, slick heat. So hot inside, a furnace even compared to the water sloshing around them and dimly Sokka heard it patter on the floor, splashing out in greater volume as Sokka rocked in again, again.

He slid one hand into dark, damp hair and yanked Zuko's head back, angling it so he could bite at the sweet curve of his neck because gods, Sokka wanted to mark him, claim him, and now Zuko was making those sounds again, louder, edged with desperation, one hand flailing back to grip at Sokka's hip, short nails digging in and dimly Sokka heard him pleading, hoarse words barely penetrating the fog surrounding his brain, and all he heard was please and more and yes.

It was over too soon, Sokka burying his face in the hot curve of Zuko's shoulder as he thrust in once, again, biting his lips on his own cry as he shuddered, senses overloading and he slumped down, would have slipped under the water if Zuko hadn't grabbed his arms and held him.

Long moment slipped by and all Sokka could do was breathe, gasping harshly. That had been...wow. Just...wow. For once, even his stupid mouth seemed awed into silence.

Carefully, Sokka pulled back, winced at Zuko's soft hiss and he pressed on apologetic kiss against the smooth back beneath him before he moved to slump against his wall of the tub. The water sloshed dangerously close to the edge again as Zuko slowly turned around, gingerly sitting next to Sokka.

He could have been content with that, Sokka figured, for at least the next few hours or until one of them could move enough to do it again. But his mouth didn't seem to be truly stupefied to silence, oh, no. It had simply bided its time.

"Now that was a relaxing bath," Sokka's mouth burst out cheerfully and it brought an idiotic grin with it.

There was no way he could deny seeing the flinch, brief as it had been and the smile froze on his face as Zuko stood abruptly, suddenly completely unconcerned about things like naked bodies and dignity.

"Yeah, relaxing," Zuko said coolly, jerking his clothes on over his still-damp skin. There were already bruises forming on his skin, a particularly livid one on his shoulder where Sokka had bitten him. He almost looked like he'd been in a fight and Sokka cringed a little inwardly because he knew, he_ knew_ that Zuko would refuse to take off his shirt for firebending training until they faded, which meant he'd be too hot and uncomfortable for days. The bruise vanished from sight under Zuko's tunic and he was still tying the sash when the door slammed shut behind him.

Sokka groaned, banging his head on the edge of the tub. He'd decided a long time ago that if he'd gotten to pick some cool magic-y skill, he would have been the world's first time bender. There were so many little moments he'd take back if he could, his mother dying, Aang getting hurt. Now he could add this to the list.

"I don't think that went well," Suki said, softly and Sokka almost jumped out of his skin, For pity's sake he'd almost forgotten Suki had been watching them.

Well, shit.

"Yeah, I don't think so either," Sokka sighed, muttering almost under his breath, "me and my big mouth."

TBC


	8. Interlude: Suki

Interlude, Suki

by Keelywolfe

Summary: Suki has a few ideas of her own

* * *

If they'd been on the public beaches there would already be a scattering of people taking advantage of the cooler morning to swim and play before the sun blazed out from the horizon but it seemed that even the practically abandoned estate of Fire Lord was deeply respected. Not that Suki was particularly surprised about that. Sneaking a dip on a private beach was hardly worth what might be a very public execution.

Sinking a little on the loose sand as she made her way to the beach, Suki could see that their little section of the shore was empty, save for one figure sitting just far enough from the rolling surf to stay dry. Bare-chested, hands resting loosely palm up on his knees, Zuko was a perfect model of calm meditation, no sign of any inner turmoil.

Suki wasn't fooled. There were fires in this young man that had nothing to do with bending and she was well trained in finding things that were camouflaged.

That didn't make her inclined to interrupt him. She held off for some time, watching him, listening to the low rumble of the ocean as it continued its endless comings and goings.

She wasn't like the others, she knew. Her experience with Zuko was limited to what she had seen on Kyoshi island and everything that had happened after the prison. It was a little surprising how easily she'd been able to forgive him for what he had done. Or perhaps it wasn't. It seemed that, for whatever reason, the former prince was easy to forgive. Zuko had certainly done worse to Aang, Katara, and Sokka, and they'd each managed to forgive him.

Especially Sokka.

She frowned a little, remembering how Sokka had been the night before. Her usually bright, cheery warrior had been morose, moping around their room. Understandable, since Zuko had quite obviously been avoiding them since the disastrous events in the bath the day before. If it hadn't been interfering with her own time with Sokka, she would have let it be, let the two of them settle it between themselves since that seemed to be the way Zuko wanted it. She was fine with that. If Zuko wanted to keep his relationship with Sokka as a private one, it was certainly his right and it was only Sokka's hopeful insistence that they would be an excellent trio that made her agree to begin with.

The first brilliant edge of sunlight crested the horizon and Zuko inhaled deeply with it, tipping his face upward as the first rays slid over him like a caress, turning his normally pale skin into warm gold and gilding the dark edges of his loose hair. The sand around him glittered like tiny jewels and for just a moment, Suki was entranced.

Okay, she'd also agreed because Zuko was pretty hot and making love to him had hardly been altruistic move on her part. She'd wanted him, had been perfectly happy to go along with the idea in hopes that Zuko would join them.

Now it seemed that Sokka might have wanted to consult Zuko about the plan before he'd gone along with it.

But that she'd understood as well. Sokka had little experience in these matters, growing up in his small village, and it seemed like Zuko had very little experience, either. It made her smile a little to think of herself as the Master in this area but Kyoshi island had been quite a good teacher in the lesson of sharing partners.

Leaving them to their own devices hadn't seemed to work since Zuko refused to be cornered by Sokka's clownish attempts, and there was another lesson Sokka could use, stealth, so that left Suki here, feet half-buried in the warming sand watching her lover's lover.

"Did you need something?" Zuko didn't open his eyes, speaking just loud enough for her to hear over the wind and surf. She almost startled, catching herself and scowling slightly. Zuko, it seemed, had paid attention to his stealth training.

"Yes," she said, finally, walking up to stand next to him. When he didn't move, she sank down into the sand next to him, mimicking his pose. "I wanted to say I'm sorry. For what happened in the bath. For what we did. I didn't mean for things to turn out that way and I hope you can forgive us."

That made him open his eyes, turning his head enough to flick a glance at her through the tangle of his dark hair. She winced a little when she realized she'd sat on his wrong side, forcing him to turn a little towards her in order to see her better. He held up a hand when she would have continued, silencing her.

"Please. I don't think my pride can take any more of having a beautiful woman apologize for having sex with me," he said dryly.

"But you didn't really want to do it, did you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I wanted to do it. You're beautiful and strong and smart. I can't imagine that there are too many men alive who wouldn't want you."

"But..." she prompted, gently.

Zuko sighed, shifting so that he could draw up his knees, wrapping his arms around them. "But I don't love you," he grated out, like he was ripping some deep, dark secret from within himself.

Suki knew better. It was the words he didn't say that were the secret. "No, but you love Sokka. Don't you."

It was like a wall slammed up behind his eyes, inner fire leaping up into them. "It doesn't matter how I feel, all right?"

Suki pursed her lips, considering that. He really believed it, she knew. It was that, she thought, that had made it so easy to forgive him. When it came to bending and sword fighting, Zuko brimmed with confidence and skill, and watching him literally holding flames in his hands was certainly a sight to behold. When it came to relationships, to people...the guy was really screwed up. It made a person wonder why, made _her_ wonder.

She'd only heard snippets, tiny details about Zuko's relationship with his family, but it only took the knowledge of who his father was and one incident of his sister trying to kill them all to put it into perspective.

Suki slid her hand into the sand, cupping a palmful and raised it enough to watch the golden grains seep from her clenched fingers. "I'm not entirely sure that makes sense, all things considered," she said, slowly, "But seriously? It does matter how you feel. It matters how we all feel. Sokka is pretty upset right now."

Zuko's head jerked towards her, his expression stricken, "I didn't mean—"

"Oh, would you stop!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "He's upset because he upset you! He prefers you to be just your normal level of gloomy." She nudged him lightly in the ribs with her elbow. He accepted it, his eyes on the water, digging his bare toes deeper into the damp sand.

Maybe this was going well? Suki couldn't say for sure. That was the trouble with meddling; it had the potential to go so many ways.

"Okay," Suki said, a little dubiously, "So....friends?"

To her shock, he turned and gave her a tiny, surprisingly charming, smile. "I'd like that."

She stared at him a long second, almost too startled to smile back. He was really....cute...when he smiled.

Down, girl.

"I'd like that, too," she managed, honestly."Sokka has plenty of love to go around. So if you don't mind sharing him with me, I don't mind sharing him with you. Just don't try to make him choose, okay? It would really hurt him."

For some reason that Suki couldn't fathom, his eyes dimmed, flicking back out to the water. "I would never do that."

"Okay," Suki hesitated, feeling like there was something else she should say but she had no idea what it was. Instead, she gave into the urge to lay a hand on Zuko's shoulder, warm, smooth skin against her palm reminding her of the bath. It had ended poorly, to be sure, but during, ah, well, if Zuko wasn't so obviously against the idea she wouldn't have minded a second round.

Again, he managed to shock her, turning his head to brush a kiss against her fingertips. "Friends," he repeated, smiling again, just a little.

"Friends," Suki echoed, a little dazedly. "And do me a favor? Talk to Sokka after your Firebending training today? The position of brooding guy has been filled, we really don't need two."

"All right," Zuko agreed, quietly. He shifted back into a meditative pose, eyes closing again.

Suki backed away silently, leaving him to it, and she hoped that he found whatever inner peace he was searching for.

They could all use a little peace.

tbc


	9. Random Curiosity

Notes: Hello, there! Hope this isn't getting too strange for everyone, but this story seems to like to go in its own direction and just drags me along for the ride. I hope you enjoy!

Random Curiosity

By Keelywolfe

* * *

If he were forced, Zuko would have to admit, grudgingly, that Aang was really a good firebender. In the short time Zuko had been training him, Aang had already surpassed Zuko's own level of skill at that age. Of course, he was the Avatar and when you had something that going for you, little things like hard work and diligence fell to the wayside.

No, that wasn't fair. Aang was working very hard and it showed. But if Zuko had been even a quarter as annoying during his training-

_(oh, and he had, he knew he had, and if...if he ever saw his uncle again he would beg forgiveness, he would)_

-if he had, then it was a wonder his uncle hadn't thrown him overboard.

"No!" Zuko snapped as Aang shifted into the wrong position for the third time. "You can't shift to either side like that without checking the position of your opponent!" To prove his point, he thrust out a fist and sent a fan of flames towards Aang so that the younger boy had to scramble out of the way, nearly tripping over his own feet.

"I'm sorry!" Aang said, again. Again and again and again... Zuko sighed and scrubbed an arm over his face.

"I think we need a break," he decided, not even watching the Avatar as he nodded fervently, following Zuko with puppyish eagerness to the soft, shaded grass under a nearby tree. Zuko had long since chased the others away with his snarling temper this morning but Katara had thoughtfully left them both a cool drink and a snack. Melon juice and thin wafers of bread spread with some sort of nut and berry relish. He was starting to see why Sokka didn't like sharing meals with Aang.

Sokka.

He shied away from the thought, avoiding Sokka in his mind as much as he'd avoided him in person. Not his cleverest choice and probably one of the few truly cowardly ones but he didn't...he couldn't...

He didn't like telling Sokka no. Even when he should have. It was easier to just avoid it all and he'd done a fair job of it until they'd cornered him in the baths and then...he hadn't said no. It was as simple as that.

Zuko scowled down at his food, appetite lost. It was completely ridiculous how he'd gotten swept into this in the first place. He was here to train Aang, to defeat his father and end this gods-forsaken war, not to be bedding the resident swordsman / plan guy/ idiot. Really, Sokka had a lot of titles.

It probably would be best to end things now, before they became any more complex. He still had time, perhaps, to limit things to friendship. Sokka would allow him that, he thought. Sokka who had a bright smile and a clownish attitude, who could be fierce and gentle and whose mouth--

No.

Unwillingly, Suki's words from that morning came back to him.

_"No, but you love Sokka. Don't you."_

It hadn't been a question, so softly spoken. He'd only been able to stare at her, his throat was burning with salt air and terror, and Zuko could only swallow one of them away.

Don't take him away from me, he hadn't said, those first words froze in his throat, unspoken, the wild, desperate plea refusing to spill into the air. Once he had begged, pleaded, once, and he would carry the mark from it for the rest of his life. Never again. He would never beg for anything again. Not even for Sokka.

She had asked him not to ask Sokka to choose and Zuko had only been able to stare at her, uncomprehending. Why would he want Sokka to choose? It would only leave him alone.

"Can I ask you something?" Aang said, bursting his thoughts like a fragile soap bubble. He was nearly grateful.

"Of course," Zuko said absently, chewing his tough slice of bread with grim determination.

"What's it like to have sex?"

All right, he wasn't that grateful and the bread/fruit combo was bad enough without half inhaling it. Zuko managed to choke down the bite he'd swallowed in surprise and took a long drink before he rasped out, "What kind of question is that?"

"I don't know," Aang dug a toe into the dirt. "But I know you and Sokka, you...do it. I just wondered what it was like."

Zuko stared, his mouth falling open. "How did...what..."

Aang was nearly crimson, his eyes determinedly on the grass as though it had something to add to the conversation. "Well, I saw you that one time, on the path, I-"

"What do you mean you saw us?!" Zuko said loudly, indignation coloring his voice. He had rolled to his feet before he'd even realized what he was doing, torn between storming away or beating the curiosity out of one Airbender.

"I was going to the fountain!"

"So you just stayed there and watched? It wasn't a free show!"

"You were on the path! Was I supposed to close my eyes and walk over you?"

Zuko knew when to abandon a strategy. "Never mind that, I...you just..." He rubbed his temples, feeling the throb of a headache starting just behind his eyes. Gods, how had his Uncle not murdered him in his sleep? "Aang, I don't think that this falls under the category of firebending training."

"Oh." Aang drew his knees up. "I'm sorry. I was just wondering. The monks at the Air Temple never talked about it and since I may never get to..." he trailed away and Zuko groaned inwardly. Oh, please, not the 'I'm going to die a virgin' gambit. What was worse was that it was working because Zuko knew exactly what Aang was going to be up against. If he survived facing his father, if any of them survived, if, if, if.

With a mental sigh, he sank down to sit next to Aang, their shoulders barely touching. "It's...nice," he hedged, awkwardly. "It feels good."

Okay, that was probably the lamest description of sex in the history of the world but Aang was nodding eagerly as if he'd produced not a pearl of wisdom, but spat out an entire necklace.

"Look, you're still pretty young. There's--" Still time, he almost said, bit his tongue hard on it.

Aang smiled ruefully. "I know. I don't really want to...you know. I was just curious."

The silence between them was not quite uncomfortable and Zuko wasn't entirely sure how to break it. Maybe it would be better to get back to training; at least then Aang would be too out of breath to ask him anything.

"Zuko? Can I ask you something else?"

Too late. "Why not?" he sighed, flopping back into the grass.

"Would you kiss me?"

The sky was just lovely today, Zuko decided, clear blue beauty with a scattering of fluffy clouds, nothing that spoke of rain, just warmth and sunshine and if he stared at it long enough, he could pretend he hadn't heard that.

"I mean, I kissed Katara once, but she doesn't seem to want to do it again. I thought maybe, since you kissed Sokka..."

Yep, fluffy, happy clouds. That one sort of looked like a platypus bear. Or maybe an armadillo bear, yes, he could see the outline of its tail.

"It's just, I wanted to try it once before...before I..."

He only needed one excuse in this sea of bad ideas but the mingled hope and sadness in Aang's voice outdid him and he didn't want to hear about how Aang might die.

"All right!" he growled, sitting up abruptly and he better not have just seen a calculating gleam in Aang's eyes. But as he studied the avatar suspiciously, all he saw was eager innocence in those gray eyes.

"Just a kiss," he added quickly, grudgingly.

"A kiss," Aang agreed solemnly, already tipping his head up expectantly.

"And nothing weird!" Zuko snapped. Aang blinked and nodded, pursing his lips comically. Oh, for pity's sake. "Just relax and let me do it, all right?"

All that firebending training had been good for something because Aang obeyed immediately, relaxing his mouth and closing his eyes.

Zuko had to lean down to kiss him, not something he was used to. Soft, small mouth, lips hesitant against his own, moving not unpleasantly as Zuko pressed their mouths together lightly.

This close, all he could inhale was Aang's scent and for all that he was a boy, a young boy, and boys weren't prone to washing as often as they should, he only smelled fresh and green, like mown hay or falling leaves. He wondered if this was an Airbender trait, the same way he knew another firebender by the faint smokiness that seemed to linger around them. He realized with a jolt that he would never know; the Airbenders were long dead and gone, murdered by his own people, except for Aang.

Who he was kissing.

Carefully, he let the tip of his tongue rub against the seam of Aang's lips and felt him startle but he'd already decided if he was going to do this, he would do it properly; that way Aang could _never_ ask him again.

Aang parted his lips hesitantly as if it had never occurred to him that this was what kissing was and his tongue was soft and lax, still against Zuko's as he gently explored that wet little mouth. He started to pull back with a mental sigh of relief when Aang suddenly grabbed his shoulders and pulled him in hard, thrusting his tongue clumsily into Zuko's mouth.

Well, in for a penny...

Sliding his arms around the other boy, Zuko held him tightly, kissing him until they were both breathless and had to break away, mouths swollen red as they panted for breath.

Aang looked dazed, eyes glassy and hot. A new awareness lit those soft gray eyes from within and Zuko shifted backwards a little, uncomfortably.

"One kiss," Zuko reminded him warningly, before Aang got curious about anything else. He still had to teach this brat firebending, damn it. Aang blinked a little, his expression clearing into a familiar, cheeky grin.

"Sure, that's all I wanted," Aang said breezily, scrambling to his feet and stretching. "I just--oh."

The smile slid from Aang's face abruptly and Zuko turned to follow his line of vision and saw--oh.

Oh, shit.

Sokka was standing in the pathway, watching them, the tip of his beloved sword trailing in the dirt. He didn't say a word, his mouth tight and unnaturally quiet, only turned abruptly on his heel and stormed away.

Oh, this was not good.

"I think he's upset," Aang said unhappily, his eyes gleaming with his distress.

Aang had a perfect knack for understatement.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Zuko said tiredly, sliding a hand viciously through his hair and wincing as his fingers caught at the tangles. Somehow, he suspected this wasn't what Suki had had in mind when she'd spoken to him this morning.

"Aren't you going to go after him?" Aang asked, uncertainly. "I mean, I could, if you want, it was my idea and I know Sokka really well, I bet I could explain."

"Aang," Zuko interrupted tersely. "I know Sokka well enough that I can tell you if the Water tribes practice circumcision."

It was worth it just to see the flood of crimson sweep over Aang's face. "They don't. You can see that much in the bath," Aang mumbled, halfheartedly, making Zuko raise a mental eyebrow.

That he'd have to deal with later. Right now he had a pissed off Water Tribe warrior to deal with and if he didn't hurry, he could add a Kyoshi warrior to the list. Not that he owed Sokka anything, they weren't...whatever they were, it wasn't faithful. A slow burn began to ache in the pit of his stomach.

"I think we're done practicing for the day." Zuko jumped to his feet, torn between running after Sokka to apologize and...he didn't know.

"Yeah, I figured." Aang shuffled his feet a little. "Sorry about that and...thanks."

Zuko barely had time to blink before Aang leaned in with a rush of air, brushing a too-quick kiss over his mouth, like the flutter of a breeze, and then he was gone.

"Oh, for..." Zuko muttered, rubbing a hand over his lips to rid himself of the faint tickle. "Why didn't I just stay home and help my father destroy the world?"

The trees, ground, and the clouds, even the fluffy ones, didn't offer an answer and with a sigh, Zuko jogged down the path after one seriously pissed off warrior and wondered how he was going to get himself out of this mess.

If Sokka was really angry, well, at least he had his swords. With his luck, he would need them.

tbc


	10. Envy Was a Fever

Envy Was a Fever

By Keelywolfe

NC-17

Sokka/Zuko

Summary: Oh, the dreaded talking! What's poor Sokka to do?

* * *

Even after years of neglect, the gardens of the Fire Lord's estate were still lovely. The wild overgrowth revealed shadows of its earlier sculpting, lovely shrubs and trees curving around the winding paths and courtyards in a visual masterpiece. And Sokka didn't see a damned bit of it. Was, in fact, tempted to take his sword to a few of the more overhanging branches and it was only reverence for the weapon that kept him from hacking a few helpless trees into splinters instead of just storming his way down the path towards the house.

He'd gone down there on Suki's advice, something in her tone as she suggested it making him think she'd done...something...but if it meant Zuko wasn't going to pull another vanishing act on him, Sokka would work with it.

Well, he certainly hadn't vanished. Instead, he'd found him and Aang practicing a form of sparring that had nothing to do with firebending.

In the past year, there had been a couple of times he'd wanted to hit Aang before and, really, that was no surprise. For all his youthful wisdom and enthusiasm, hanging around with Aang was a lot like having a little brother. Even though Sokka didn't have one of his own, he knew exactly how a guy should feel about his little brother; sometimes, you just wanted to hit them.

But standing there, watching Aang kissing Zuko, their mouths moving together softly and then harsher, a glimpse of pink tongue between them...he'd wanted to _hit_ Aang, and there had been nothing brotherly about it.

Sokka scowled and concentrated on walking faster. It didn't really bear thinking about what he wanted to do to Zuko. Just lately he was starting to think he'd done enough.

"Sokka!"

He cringed a little at the sound of his name, slowing to a stop. Katara was waved at him, walking up the path with a basket of clean towels hanging from her arm. "Are Zuko and Aang still training?"

"Yeah," he said sourly. They were training for something, anyway. Katara smiled sweetly and started to move towards the courtyard and Sokka had a sudden vision of Katara walking in on the scene where he'd just gotten an eyeful. Somehow, he didn't think that hitting Aang was going to be her first reaction. Come to think of it, Sokka wasn't entirely sure that Zuko would_ survive_ her first reaction.

"Actually, you might want to wait a little longer," Sokka said hastily. "Zuko is a still a little...ah...surly this morning."

It worked. Katara wrinkled her nose and glanced in the direction of the courtyard before she fell back into step with Sokka. "He is a little short-tempered today, isn't he?"

Maybe his mood will have improved when he's done 'training', Sokka couldn't say, so instead he shrugged, eyes on the ground in front of him.

"Sokka, I've been wanting to talk to you about something," Katara began and Sokka groaned inwardly. Talking. Fantastic. Could this day get any worse? It was times like this that Sokka wished they weren't quite so well hidden because a well-timed sneak attack would have gone over pretty good right about now. Where were the evil elite warriors when you needed them?

Since ninjas didn't choose to jump out of the trees for him, Sokka could only go along with it. "Sure!" Sokka said heartily. "There's nothing I like more than a long talk with my little sister!"

Katara's frown told him she wasn't fooled. "It's about Zuko."

Better and better. If she'd come to confess her love for Zuko to him, Sokka swore he was just going to throw on some armor and go join up with the fire nation because obviously the universe had gone completely insane and he might as well go along for the ride.

"I thought the two of you were getting along okay these days," Sokka said, warily.

"Not as well as the two of you are," Katara said dryly and when Sokka stumbled, mouth dropping open as he stared at her, Katara rolled her eyes. "If you wanted to keep it a secret, you might have tried being a little more discreet."

"We were discreet!" Sokka blurted, trying to think of even one time they hadn't been discreet. There had only been that time on the path...oh, and that time in the closet. The time in the kitchen probably counted, too, but the bedroom times, those had been very discreet.

"Aha!" Katara whirled on him, "I knew it! You are messing around with him!"

"You--" Sokka gaped openly at his sister and wondered when exactly she'd gotten so devious. "Fine," he exhaled. "You caught us. We're--" he made a little gesture, just catching himself from making it obscene because yeesh, this was his sister! "--we're messing around. I guess."

"You guess? You must not be very good at it if you don't know for sure."

"Katara!" Sokka yelped, scandalized. He was not going to talk about his sex life with his _little sister_!

"Fine, fine," she waved at him dismissively. "I just want you to promise me you'll be careful. Zuko is--" she hesitated

Here it came, the whole spiel against Zuko and it stood to reason Katara would be good at it. At one time she'd been the president and sole member of the 'Why Zuko is a Horrible Person' fan club.

"--you could really hurt him."

"Come on, Zuko has gone way beyond proving hims--" Sokka blinked. "Wait, back up on that. Did you just say _I_ could hurt _him_? He's a firebender! He could melt my face off! Bzzzt!" he flailed his arms. "No face!"

"Sokka, there are ways of hurting people that don't involve bending," Katara wrinkled her nose. "Or melting faces, and thank you for that mental image."

"I would think face melting would rank up there on ways of hurting people," Sokka muttered, feeling churlish. His sister was supposed to be concerned about _him_, darn it.

"Would you drop the melting?" Katara said exasperatedly. "Look, all I mean is, Zuko didn't grow up the way we did. He doesn't have our values and his family--I'm not even sure there's a word to describe his family. And now he's here, with us. He's opening himself up to us and I think he's sort of vulnerable."

"Yeah, because he has to worry about us charring him into komodo rhino burgers," Sokka muttered, his voice catching a little on the tightness in his throat. Katara's well-meaning advice struck a hard chord within him, painful dissonance as he thought back on that ill-fated bath.

Vulnerable. Not a chance, Zuko was as strong as any of them, unbending and determined and none of that spoke of vulnerability. Unless you looked into his eyes at just the right moment, caught that faint aura of hopefulness within them. Unless you heard him talking about his uncle and how the desperate longing for the man clung to his every word, the same as Sokka felt within himself when he thought about his dad.

Katara looked at him in surprise when he veered off the path, stumbling to lean weakly against one of the trees that lined it.

"Katara, I think-"

"Sokka!"

They both startled as Zuko ran up on them, looking sweaty and disheveled. He didn't even look at Katara and that made Sokka scowl. He could at least give her a little bit of a guilty look, considering what he'd just been doing. Maybe he wasn't as trickity trickster as Katara but he wasn't a complete idiot and anyone who saw Katara and Aang together and didn't know exactly where that was headed would have to be one.

Zuko was hanging back a little, uncertainly, and Sokka didn't want to see that in him so instead he looked at Zuko's mouth, still faintly red.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from it. Soft, thin lips and it was that damned mouth that had started this entire thing. Pretty, pretty mouth, so rarely curved into a smile and that just made every one more precious. He knew how hot it was inside, the wet velvety feel of it around him, slick tongue lapping at the tip of his cock and he knew how it felt to kiss that mouth afterward, salty and bitter and _eager_.

Those lips parted, ready to form words and before they could, Sokka fisted one hand in the damp front of Zuko's tunic and yanked him forward, covering that soft mouth with his own. Zuko's startled gasp was lost in Sokka's mouth as he thrust his tongue inside

He fancied he could taste Aang on his lips, overshadowing the familiar spice of Zuko and Sokka kissed him harder, sweeping his tongue over Zuko's desperately because he wanted that flavor gone, wanted nothing more than to taste himself in that mouth again.

Dimly, he heard Katara shriek, "Sokka!", heard her drop her basket and the crunch of her feet on the loose gravel as she ran away.

Zuko's hands were hard on his shoulders, pushing, and he was squirming in Sokka's arms, little sounds of protest swallowed between their mouths. He ignored it all, clinging to Zuko like a sentient vine. He just needed this, just for a second, tried to show Zuko with lips and tongue that he needed...he just needed...

Slowly, Zuko's grasp shifted, hands loosening and sliding weakly down Sokka's chest before they abruptly came to life, gripping Sokka's shirt. The tree was suddenly rough against Sokka's back again as he was shoved into it, Zuko licking into his mouth and spirits, this was exactly what he needed.

Hands dropped from his shirt and Sokka gave a muffled yelp as he was abruptly hoisted up, fingers tight behind his knees and Zuko hard against him even through the layers of their pants.

"Sokka," Zuko breathed, pulling back just enough to look at him. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes fever-bright, the harsh lines of his scar drawing Sokka in and he didn't even think twice, leaning in to lick at the edges and the sound Zuko made seemed to be drawn from deep within, his hips thrusting hard against Sokka.

"Yeah--yeah, come on, _harder_, yeah, do it," Sokka babbled, clutching at Zuko's shoulders, his hands scrabbling into his hair to yank helplessly, trying to pull him back down. The friction between them was hot as flame, their hips rocking together desperately and he just managed to catch Zuko's mouth with his own when it crested, the heat in his belly shivering up his spine as he moaned into Zuko's mouth and came.

"Oh," Zuko exhaled, his head dropping down on Sokka's shoulder and he could feel the tremors running through him, the spurt of wet heat seeping through both their trousers as Zuko slumped against him.

They leaned there for some time, both panting harshly until Sokka felt uncomfortable friction against his back, the rough bark of the tree dragging against shirt.

"Hey!" Sokka squawked, too late, as Zuko's loosening grip finally slipped and they both tumbled to the ground. He oofed as Zuko's weight drove the air out of him, wheezing for breath.

Zuko scrambled off of him, cheeks flushed. "Sorry about that."

"S'ok," Sokka mumbled. At that moment, he was perfectly happy to be horizontal. They were both sweaty and messy and a little disgusting, and he felt brilliant. He might have fallen asleep if slim fingers hadn't brushed against his hair, nimbly pulling it free from the topknot to let it fall around his face. Sokka slit his eyes open and looked up at Zuko sitting next to him, golden eyes focused on his own fingers where they toyed in Sokka's hair.

"Hey," he said softly. Zuko's eyes flicked to his briefly, then back.

"Hey," Zuko replied, equally soft. He threaded his fingers into Sokka's hair, rubbing lightly against his scalp until Sokka sighed and leaned into his touch. That had been really hot, and he probably owed Katara about a dozen apologies and maybe even a night of dishwashing, but...it hadn't solved anything. There was only one thing that was going to change that.

Grimly, Sokka pushed Zuko's hands gently away and sat up, hardly able to believe he was going to say it. But he did.

"Zuko, we need to talk."

tbc


	11. Couldn't Drag Me Away

Couldn't Drag Me Away

By Keelywolfe

* * *

It just wasn't right. Sokka was the plan guy, a man of action, the guy with the boomerang/sword, and the one true master of sarcasm. He preferred his speech to contain insults and mockery. But laying here on the ground, his pants sticky and uncomfortable, he was supposed to have a heartfelt conversation with Zuko, plan guy the second.

If there was any consolation to this, Zuko looked a lot like he'd just bitten down on a skunk beetle. Plus, Katara had left her towels and they were pretty helpful with the whole 'sticky' aspect of the situation.

Okay, so. Talking. Talk-ing. About stuff. Yeah. There was a lot they needed to talk about, like what had happened in the bath, and yeah, that had been eating at Sokka for a couple of days now, and what they were doing with each other and that Katara knew and probably a few other things but when Sokka opened his mouth, out tumbled something completely different. Splat.

"What the _hell_ was that with Aang? Why would you even do that!?"

Great, now Zuko looked guilty, tossing his own formerly clean towel aside. "It wasn't what it looked like."

"Really? Because it looked a lot like you were mapping out a path to his tonsils! I guess that was just part of the training, right? I gotta admit, you guys must have learned some great techniques from those dragons because I've never seen anything like it."

"Sokka--"

"No, I think I understand!" Sokka said mockingly. "You breathe fire into your enemies, right? Why didn't the fire nation think of this before, you could just kiss everyone to death!"

Zuko looked like he was five seconds from trying out that technique on Sokka. "Would you shut up for five minutes and let me explain!"

"No, no," Sokka shook his head. "You know what, you don't have to explain. It doesn't matter. I don't care who you kiss or sleep with, I just don't care."

He almost went on, his stupid mouth running off like it was in a marathon except Zuko...just closed up. Every trace of his sullen anger and frustration vanished into ice even faster than Katara could have made it.

"I'm well aware of that," Zuko said, quietly, his face impassive."Are we done talking now?"

See, this was why he hated talking. Once he started, he couldn't shut up.

"No." Sokka exhaled, twining his hands together. It gave him something to look at, weaving his fingers into each other and out again. "We need to talk about the other stuff."

"No, we really don't." Zuko said it with absolutely certainty, like when a person said the sky is blue or the moon is a pretty girl from the northern water tribe.

"Yes, we do, I can't stop thinking about it," he admitted. "I...I...I practically raped you," Sokka spat it out, like vomiting up some diseased part of himself. For the past few days that little thought niggled through his head, Zuko's expression in the bath, his reluctance, and Sokka hadn't wanted to admit it, hadn't even let himself consider it until Katara had mentioned how vulnerable Zuko was. Sokka had forced him to do it and Zuko had been avoiding him because of it and then he'd been kissing Aang...it was all just really confusing. Maybe he was hoping for a too much from a little talking.

Especially since Zuko was being spectacularly unhelpful, staring at him blankly, "You what? Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious!"

Baffled, Zuko shook his head. "I thought we were past that whole prison thing."

"Prison--no, not that!" How was it Zuko could be so oblivious? Sokka had been fretting about it for the past few days because of course Zuko would be upset, Sokka hadn't even given him a chance to protest before he'd shoved him up against the side of the tub and went for it, and Zuko'd been a virgin to girls and everything!

"Okay..." Zuko said, considering. "Was I even there for it? I'd like to think I would remember something like that."

"In the tub!" Sokka exclaimed. "I held you down and practically forced you!"

He wasn't sure he'd ever seen Zuko completely speechless. Usually he managed to find something to say and if Sokka was a man of sarcasm then Zuko was prince of gloomy speechmaking. Former prince. Whatever.

"I see," Zuko finally strangled out. "You really believe that, don't you."

"Yes!" Sokka snapped. "I mean, look at you, you're all...all...vulnerable!"

The ground was really, really hard in the fire nation. Sokka knew this because it had just run into his head. He managed to blink at the dirt, felt his eyelashes brushing against the ground when a pair of boots walked into his line of vision. There was a crunch of gravel as Zuko crouched down next to him, hands gentle on Sokka's head.

"Why the hell didn't you block that? It was completely obvious," Zuko said, irritated, as he prodded in an entirely painful way at Sokka's brand new bruise. "You should pay better attention."

Oh, sure, it was his fault the ground had attacked him. Wait, ground didn't attack when Zuko was around, which meant-- "I don't think I was expecting you to hit me."

"If you're going to say stupid things like that, you should expect it more often."

Zuko eased him into a sitting position and Sokka blinked up at the sky, rubbing the dust out of his eyelashes. Hmm, there were two Zuko's here...two and a half? No, just two. Like one wasn't enough. Two could be fun though, wow, two could be a lot of fun, only one of them was pushing up one of Sokka's eyelids, peering inside before he hissed softly. "We better go see your sister."

"Oh, sure, now you want my sister!" Sokka snuffled. His head ached and he kind of wanted to bury his face into Zuko's shirt and go to sleep."I'm just not enough for you."

Zuko went very still for a brief moment, then helped Sokka climb reluctantly to his feet. "Am I enough for you, Sokka?"

And now he wanted to talk, so unfair! "I..."

"Sokka, I don't expect you to choose. You don't have to, you can have us both. Just not at the same time, all right?"

" 'k," he mumbled.

They made their way towards the house in a slow, drunken shuffle, Zuko carrying Sokka more than not. Halfway there, Zuko gave in and just scooped Sokka over his shoulder like you might carry a sack of cabbages. Sokka didn't protest. It made his head hurt worse to have all that blood pounding through it but it gave him a pretty nice view of Zuko's ass, and as soon as he got his hands working again, he was fully planning on grabbing it. As it was, if he wasn't bouncing around so much he would have put in a good attempt at biting it. What was the use of sleeping with someone who had an ass so tight you could bounce rice porridge off of it if you didn't get to bite it?

He heard the creak of the door, saw the ground change into floor as they pushed inside, still bouncing against Zuko's back as they made their way to the main sitting room where it was coolest.

Sokka heard the girls chatting before he saw them, perfectly understandable since his head was still in the direction of Zuko's ass. There was a clatter of china against china, teacups, maybe, and he heard his sister gasp in surprise.

"What happened?" Katara exclaimed, although it was so obvious that she meant, 'what did you do to him?' Oh, and now she was concerned about him. She'd been all worried about vulnerable little Zuko until he'd tried to smack Sokka's brain out through his ear. Guess they showed her.

"He might have a concussion," Zuko said, neatly avoiding the question. Sokka could hear the rumble of his voice through his back. Weirdness. "It was sort of an accident."

There was a heavy implication in his voice and Sokka stared at his back in disbelief. Had Zuko just insinuated that they'd done this having sex? To his sister??

It worked. He could practically hear the gears in Katara's mind turning as she crouched next to him and suddenly his line of sight included his sister's face. Hrmph, Zuko's ass and Katara's face was not the taste sensation he'd been dreaming of.

"Hi, Katara!" he said brightly. "My head hurts!"

Katara poked at the bruise on his head in an entirely painful way. Why was it healers always had to poke at things that hurt before they fixed them? She pursed her lips a little and shook her head."Never mind, I don't want to know. Set him down so I can get a look at this."

"Were you two hanging from the trees or something, hotman?" Toph belched, slurping down her own tea. "That's why you should keep those activities on the ground. Besides, I can't see a thing when you take it to the air."

"We weren't hanging from the trees," Sokka announced loudly. He decided to ignore the rest of that on account of it being too disturbing to hear. The second his feet found purchase on the floor, he flung his arms around Zuko's shoulders and nuzzled at his neck. Hmm, weird, Zuko's body temperature was usually a little higher than normal but his face felt stinging hot against Sokka's lips.

Zuko pushed him away a little and gave Suki a helpless look. Hey, Suki was here, too! Sokka beamed at her from his nice little spot against Zuko's chest. Mmm, pretty Zuko smelled good.

She raised her hands and backed away with a laugh. "No way, you broke him, you deal with him."

"Yeah, deal with me," Sokka said breathlessly. He started sucking on his neck sloppily, mmm, yummy, and Zuko inhaled, before he said tightly. "Heal him before I give him a matching one on the other side."

"You've got it," Katara muttered, and Sokka felt cool wetness against the side of his head. It felt gorgeous and he groaned through his mouthful of Zuko, pushing against those gentle hands as they pulled the ache from his head.

Mm, that was nice, much better, and oh dear heavens, he was making out with Zuko in front of Katara. A kiss was one thing but this--! Quickly, he spat out his mouthful and wobbled back unsteadily.

There was a colorful suck mark decorating Zuko's neck like a badge. "Sorry about that," Sokka said, weakly. But hey, if Zuko hadn't tried to kill him, this wouldn't have happened. And what was with the whole, you should have blocked that thing, anyway? It had been months since Zuko had tried to kill him, was it his fault he was out of practice?

"Hold still!" Katara said sharply, pushing up one of his eyelids. Sokka resisted the urge to bat her away. One head wound and suddenly everyone was fondling his eyeballs. Whatever she saw, it seemed to satisfy her. "He should be all right. Sokka, you should lay down for a little while. And you--" she pointed at Zuko, "Should keep an eye on him. Try to keep the head wounds to a minimum, please, I don't think Sokka needs any more brain damage."

Zuko looked like he was about to protest, but he folded under Katara's fierce glare. "Fine," he sighed, sliding a wary arm around Sokka's shoulders. "Come on."

Not entirely sure he wanted to spend any time with the person who'd cause his most recent injury, Sokka reluctantly leaned against the other boy and allowed himself to be led out of the room. They were halfway down the hall before it hit him.

"What do you mean, any _more_ brain damage?!"

~~*~~

The silence between them hung heavily and Sokka wasn't in any mood to break it, silently following where Zuko was leading, his eyes on the floor. It was only when they turned into a room at Sokka realized they hadn't been heading to bedroom he'd taken when they arrived here.

This one was bigger, darker with the curtains drawn and he barely saw the twitch of Zuko's hand before the candles on the table flickered to life. He'd never actually been in Zuko's bedroom. All of their discreet bedroom times had been in Sokka's room, all carefully coordinated to whatever insane schedule Zuko kept in his head to ration out Sokka's time equally. He'd long since decided it wasn't worth arguing about and if he wanted a little spontaneity, well, there was always the closet. And the kitchen.

Just getting on the bed made him think that next time he was sneaking into Zuko's room in the middle of the night because this mattress was way better, and bigger, than his. The coverlet was lush and velvety, a deep red that matched the curtains and the rugs, and the headboard was a scrolling mass of golden curves. His family might suck but as far as Sokka could see, being a prince did have its perks.

Zuko pulled down the blankets and ignored Sokka's protests as he tucked him into the bed clothes and all, tugging the covers over him before climbing on it himself. Instead of getting in, he sat cross-legged on top of the blankets, his hands in his lap.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Zuko said, finally.

"It's a shame you did such a good job of it then," Sokka muttered, rubbing the still-tender side of his head.

Zuko scowled. "I was trying to prove a point!"

"What, that if I try anything like that again, you'll beat the crap out of me?"

"No, that you can't force me to do anything!" Zuko snapped, "I don't believe this! First Suki, now you! Neither of you made me do anything I didn't want to do, all right?"

"Except the part where I just about held you down and—are you okay?"

Zuko had both hands over his face and he was making a weird sound, so strange that Sokka didn't even recognize it. He hunched over, curling in on himself and just making that horrible noise, low and pained. Oh, god, he'd broken him, he'd--wait. Sokka eyed him narrowly.

He was laughing. Laughing hard and damn, he was horrible at it. It sounded like a rusted wheel being pried loose. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure he'd ever heard Zuko laugh at all, much less like this.

Suddenly the bed was soft beneath his back and Sokka was trying to convince his lungs that yes, they could still breathe and now would be a great time to start. Zuko was kneeling over him, one leg on either side, and slowly he lowered himself to sit on Sokka's hips.

He was still grinning, eyes bright. It was probably one of the scariest things Sokka had ever seen, "So tell me again how you raped poor, defenseless little me," Zuko cooed.

"Come on, I--erk!" Sokka found himself abruptly face down on the bed, Zuko tight against his back, and he lifted his head enough to spit out a mouthful of blankets "Hey!"

"We all know how helpless I am. I never could have stood up to you...you animal!" Good lord, Zuko was almost giggling. It was like being in a nightmare. He decided then and there that Zuko was only acceptable when he was surly and depressed. "How could you have ignored me yelling at you to stop!"

"Okay, okay, I get your point!" Sokka half-heartedly thrust an elbow back at him and Zuko rolled off, still snickering. "I still think that it was--"

A hand covered his mouth, stifling him and Zuko gave him a serious look. "Do you really want me to hit you again? I don't mind but you might want to avoid another concussion."

Sokka batted that hand away, "Look, you were a virgin before all this, okay? I didn't even know and--would you stop that!" he yelled, exasperated because Zuko was laughing again and it was just disturbing!

It finally trailed away into little snorts and chuckles."Is that what you think? Sokka, you do know that this isn't the first time I've done this, don't you?"

A faint, cold feeling trickled into Sokka's stomach, lingering there unpleasantly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've done this before. With a guy."

No. "You did not. You were as tight as an old lady's money pouch that first time."

Zuko flushed brightly, his eyes flicking away. "Just because we didn't get into advanced techniques doesn't mean that I never sucked anyone off before you. It also doesn't mean I didn't fuck him."

"Wha..."

"So you can stop worrying about me being 'vulnerable', okay? I know what I'm doing...what are you doing?"

Sokka was wrestling his boots off, tossing them over the side of the bed with a clunk. "I want you to fuck me."

"What?" Zuko blinked at him, and then scooted backwards against the headboard, crossing his arms over his chest. "No."

Okay, no was not the proper answer to that statement. The proper answer was yes and sir and how hard.

"Why not?" Sokka demanded, sitting up to pull his shirt over his head. "I want to, I know you want to, let's do it, right now."

"You wanted to talk!" Zuko accused, stabbing a thankfully flameless finger at him. "So we're talking."

"Screw talking, screw concussions, screw all of this! And get over here and screw me!"

"No!"

"Argh!" Sokka flopped back on the bed. "We're in a bed together and we're both clothed! It's not right!"

"Too bad," Zuko said sullenly. Sokka narrowed his eyes, studying him. Okay, Zuko was totally ogling his chest out of the corner of his eye. Encouraged, Sokka stripped off his trousers, draping himself over the pillows and running a light hand down his belly. Aha!

There, Zuko just glanced at him and swallowed. Hard.

"It's a shame, though," Sokka sighed regretfully, letting his hand drift down between his legs. "I bet fucking me would be great. I've never done that before, you know." he glanced at Zuko from under his lashes and found the other boy watching him raptly. "I bet I would be really hot inside. I bet--"

"Stop it," Zuko said tightly. His tongue flicked out, wetting his lips. "We need...talk..." he trailed away, focused on Sokka's hands as they played between his legs, one hand curled around his erection, stroking himself hard so that the rosy head peeked out over his hand. The other was cupped around his balls, slipping lower down where he wanted Zuko to be right now.

"Mm, that feels good," Sokka whispered, arching up into his own hands, stroking himself a little harder.

"Wait," Zuko closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, that universal seeking calm method that Sokka had seen every bender do from time to time. Then he opened his eyes and quickly stripped, shirt and pants tossed over the edge of the bed and Sokka was drawn instantly to his cock, already hard and heavy between his thighs.

Yelped a little in surprise when Zuko grabbed him and instead of pushing him down on the bed, pulled him to straddle Zuko's hips.

"If you want to do this, then you do it," Zuko said, drawing his knees up so that Sokka was cradled in his lap.

"Like this?" Sokka said disbelieving. He scooted back a little, felt the hot press of Zuko's erection against his backside.

"Just like this," Zuko nuzzled at his jawline.

Sokka swallowed. "Okay, yeah. I need some, you know, stuff."

"Believe me, I know." He felt Zuko fumbling and then slick fingers slid into the cleft of his ass, pressing gently. Where the hell did Zuko keep that stuff, Sokka wondered dazedly, gasping a little as a single finger breeched his body.

"Easy," Zuko soothed. "It just hurts a little. Just a little and then..."

And then had better be everything Sokka was hoping for. He buried his face into the sweat-damp skin of Zuko's shoulder, spreading his legs a little wider and choking as Zuko pushed in another finger, twisting them a little inside him, spreading that slickness.

"Okay, Sokka," Zuko pulled his fingers free and lay back on the bed, his hands resting lightly on Sokka's hips.

Okay. Yeah, right. Sokka reached between them with shaky fingers, finding the hot length of Zuko's cock and holding it as he shifted his weight above him, positioning himself. Geez, Zuko was really big and even knowing that he'd had no trouble fitting into Zuko's body wasn't very encouraging. Maybe he wasn't as accommodating as Zuko, maybe firebenders were different, maybe Zuko was a big slut and--

"Ah!" Zuko gasped, eyes wide as Sokka slid down. Oh, spirits, it hurt, it really hurt, it burned, but Sokka grit his teeth and forced himself down another inch. A whimper escaped his throat before he could bite it back, high and sharp to his own ears.

Zuko shifted up enough to press a kiss against Sokka's mouth, breathing into it, "Relax, Sokka." His hands slid down Sokka's hips, petting him, tenderly soothing, and tears stung Sokka's eyes. He blinked them away. "Relax for me. It'll feel good, I promise, it'll feel so good."

Easy for him to say. Sokka took a deep breath and let it out, another, trying to focus on Zuko's hands on his thighs, one straying inward to slide around Sokka's softening cock. The sweet pressure around him was a decent distraction and he managed to slide down another inch, groaning as the burn returned. Was this how Zuko had felt in the bath? If it was, Sokka owed him way more than an apology.

"Wait!" Zuko's hands were like iron shackles on his hips, holding him still.

"What?" Sokka gritted out, thighs tense and shaking as he held himself up.

"Wait, you're so...tight...I'm gonna...too soon..." Zuko panted, his face tense. He bit his lip, breathing deeply and the look on his face, the flush to his sweat-damp cheeks, the white gleam of his teeth against the swollen red of his lips, was just about the hottest thing Sokka had ever seen. He was beautiful, Sokka realized, just sexy as all hell, and Sokka was the one making him look like this. He really did want this, wanted to do it to Sokka and no one else.

Without really thinking about it, Sokka relaxed, easing the rest of the way down despite Zuko's pleading gasps. Zuko was all the way inside him, felt like he was crammed in, and Sokka knelt there over him, shaking, unyielding pressure inside him.

"Sokka...you have to...move," Zuko managed, rolling his hips up a tiny bit as if he couldn't stop himself.

Right, move. Experimentally, Sokka raised himself up and slowly slid back down. It didn't hurt as much, but it wasn't all that great and...

"Gods!" Sokka gasped, throwing his head back and shoving back down hard, trying to find that spot again because--"Ah!" he wailed, right there, that one spot inside him felt so good, his vision wavering as he wriggled his hips desperately to rub Zuko against that one little place again and again.

"Sokka!" Zuko's voice was a high, thready moan, "Oh, my god, you--"

Yeah, Sokka couldn't say, yeah, you were right, you were so, so right, and he had one hand around his cock and the other braced on Zuko's shoulder, grinding down, trying to get Zuko in deeper, and why hadn't he known it would feel like this, they could have been doing this all that time and he hadn't _known_.

Dimly, he heard Zuko whispering, barely audible over his own heartbeat thundering in his ears. "I...love..."

The rest of it was drowned in a shout as Zuko thrust up hard, his entire body stiffening and shaking, and oh, man, he could feel it, the heat of Zuko coming inside him, and hips jerking weakly against Sokka and that was all he could take, the hot sweep of it over his vision as he shoved himself down hard and came with a choked moan, spurting over his own hand and Zuko's bare chest.

Afterward, Sokka felt like he still had a concussion, vision blurred and body aching. He dimly felt Zuko moving him, pulling out and that woke him up a little. He hissed in pain, biting his lip.

"You're going to be sore tomorrow," Zuko murmured, faintly apologetic.

"I'm sore now," Sokka mumbled, not particularly concerned about it. Was that what he'd been afraid of? If Aang though the delivery carriers in Omashu were a wild ride, then he had some serious growing up to do. And Zuko, wow, he really did know what he was doing, and the things he'd said, he'd--

His daze was fading and suddenly Sokka felt very awake, remembering what Zuko had said, or what he'd almost said.

Almost being the important word, there, Sokka told himself hastily. He could have meant anything. He could have been saying he loved doing this or he loved how this felt or that he loved cheese, he could have meant anything!

Except how he probably hadn't. Except how he was pulling Sokka back into his arms and pressing light, damp kisses against his shoulders, nuzzling against him and again, that unexpected tenderness, Zuko touching him with aching gentleness, mindful of his sore muscles.

Zuko, he knew, was strong and determined and...vulnerable. Sokka swallowed hard, suddenly understanding with pure, crystal clarity exactly what Katara had meant.

He wished he hadn't. Would have given anything to fall back into sex-dazed ignorance and maybe he could pretend because Zuko didn't say it again, didn't say anything, his breathing evening out as he drifted off to sleep. Sokka waited, counting his own heartbeats and when he got to a thousand, he eased out of the circle of Zuko's arms.

He could have left. He could have gone out and soaked his sore muscle the way the benders did after their training. He could have gone to his sister and asked for a little more healing...okay, no, he couldn't do that, pretty much ever. But he could leave.

Only, Zuko was a very light sleeper and he would wake up the second Sokka slipped off the bed. Sokka could see it as clearly as if it had already happened, his golden eyes watching as Sokka pulled his clothes on and crept out the door and he wouldn't protest or complain. He wouldn't say a word.

Instead, Sokka carefully rolled over, making little, hushing sounds when Zuko murmured in protest, lightly stroking the other boy's hair back and tucking it behind his ear. The scarred side of his face was buried in the pillows and with it hidden, Zuko looked absurdly young, his skin smooth and bare as a child's.

He could have left. He could have slept. But Sokka just lay there instead while the candles burned low and guttered out, watching Zuko sleep.

tbc


	12. For the Love of Cheese

For the Love of Cheese

By Keelywolfe

Summary: Set during 'The Ember Island Players'.

* * *

If there was one good thing about dating an elite warrior who has trained for many years in the art of stealth, it was that they could always find the best closets. This particular one was backstage in the Ember Island theatre and it had a nice convenient lock on the door in case someone tried to come in for a change of costume.

Suki had her arms and legs wrapped around him, her back against the door as they kissed, and Sokka hummed contentedly into her mouth. There wasn't much time left in the intermission but they had time for this. He cupped one breast through her shirt, felt the peak of the nipple against his thumb as she moaned happily into his mouth.

"We need to get back," she said breathlessly, squirming a little in his arms.

"Mmhmm," Sokka mumbled, pulling away with a sigh. Just one last kiss, soft and sweet, and then he set her back down on her feet. She was so pretty, cheeks flushed and her eyes sparking blue. She was smart and funny and just plain wonderful, and he loved her.

Which was why Sokka didn't quite understand what he said next. "Do you think Zuko's all right?"

Suki blinked. "What? What do you mean?"

"I mean, he seems really down about the play."

For a second, he kind of thought he was going to end up with his second concussion of the week, and seriously, he wouldn't have blamed her because what the hell? But the fury in her eyes was gone in a blink and she smiled instead, gently. "Well, let's go check on him, then."

Smart, pretty, wonderful, and understanding. Heck with it, Suki was perfect. He hugged her, a little helplessly, and then took her hand and pulled her along with him.

Zuko was still where they'd left him when they'd gone off to find Sokka's doppelganger. Sitting on the floor next to Toph, talking, and he didn't seem like someone who was in the throes of abject despair.

In fact, he was smiling. Not a smirk, which Sokka had seen before, not that creepy grin he'd seen that went along with the horrifying laughter that still haunted Sokka's dreams, and that was pretty much enough for Sokka to think they should never have A Talk, again. This was just an honest, warm smile and Sokka trailed to a stop, barely noticing Suki bumping into his back. That small curve of lips, such a simple thing to anyone else, transformed him. Everything about him seemed lighter, his eyes, the fall of his hair around his face, the set of his shoulders. Zuko had always been attractive; much as he hated his scar, Sokka thought it just added a little mysterious appeal, but to Sokka's eyes it was that little smile that made him...beautiful.

Sokka blinked a little, finally noticing Suki looking at him curiously, and started forward again. Whatever Zuko and Toph had been talking about, she clammed up when she felt them coming and Zuko glanced in their direction, his eyes meeting Sokka's and that smile widened, genuinely welcoming and even better for it.

Sokka groaned inwardly. Spirits, he was in so much trouble.

"Are we ready to go and complain about the rest of the play?" Sokka said, a little too loudly, still clinging to Suki's hand.

"Might as well finish it," Zuko shrugged, climbing to his feet. He didn't wait for them, walking up the aisle and sliding back into his seat next to Katara while Suki and Sokka sat behind him. The rest of the play wasn't much of an improvement over the first half but Sokka nearly squealed in delight when the actor playing him took his advice.

"Darn right," Sokka whispered to Suki, who was muffling her giggles in his shoulder, "Of course I know what I would say. No one plays a better me than me!"

He didn't pay much attention to Zuko, that little smile reassuring him that the other boy wasn't taking this too much to heart, until Zuko's character vanished from the stage. Burned to death in false flame by his own play-sister and the sound of applause washed over them, his own people cheering his demise.

Sokka reached out without thinking, laying an awkward hand on Zuko's shoulder. Katara and Aang were looking at him, too, their faces drawn with concern. He didn't seem to notice, staring in shock as his people stood in their seats and clapped. Watching Aang's actor 'die' as well was almost anticlimactic and they were all standing before the applause had faded, filing out slowly into the night air.

They were all subdued as they left the theater, barely trading a few halfhearted remarks. The night sky was half-obscured with clouds, no hint of the moon lighting it, as gray and dismal as the mood hanging between them all.

Each of them drifted their own way when they got back to the house. Sokka started to follow Suki inside, hesitated as he saw a taller, shadowed figure walking down towards the beach. He stood there, one hand on the door, watching Zuko fade from sight.

He might have stood there all night, wavering between two desires, if it weren't for Suki. She gave him a little smile, something in it that he couldn't decipher before leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. "Go on, I don't think he needs to be alone right now."

Perfect. That was Suki. He pulled her in tight and gave her a longer kiss, pouring a promise into it before he let her go and started jogging down to the beach.

Zuko wasn't hard to find, sitting in the cool sand not far from the surf, his boots like peeled fruit skins next to him. There was a faint breeze, cool enough to make Sokka's skin prickle and it caught at Zuko's hair, long strands stirring around his face. The sand shifted beneath his feet as he walked closer, tempted to touch that soft, cool hair and Sokka knew just how it felt, heavy between his fingers like dark, thick silk.

Instead, Sokka sat down next to him, kicking off his own boots so he could bury his feet in the coarse grains of sand. He supposed he should say something, at least someone should ask him if he was all right but if anything Sokka was less of a chatty guy than before and touchy-feely with Aang had taken on an all new meaning where Zuko was concerned. That left him with this, sitting next to Zuko and offering some sort of silent, manly comfort with his mere presence. That would just have to be good enough.

Unfortunately, Zuko didn't seem to have received that mental message.

"Can I ask you something?" Zuko asked softly, his eyes on the ocean. They were almost too close to the water, one wave brushing icily over their bare toes.

He didn't wait for Sokka to reply. "Did Jet really die?"

Well, it looked like they were talking, after all. Sokka shrugged. "I don't know but...I think so."

Zuko was silent for a long moment, one hand sifting restlessly through the sand. "Even though we ended on bad terms, I never wanted him to die," he said softly.

"What?"

Zuko glanced at Sokka, a little flustered, "We were...on the ferry to Ba Sing Se, he and I..."

"You slept with Jet?" Sokka said loudly. Zuko winced.

"You don't have to tell the entire island!"

"Yes, I do! You slept with _Jet_?"

"So what?"

"When you said you'd been with someone before, I didn't think it was Jet!"

"What does it matter who it was?" Zuko asked, bewildered.

"Because I know Jet! Knew Jet! And now that's in my head...argh!" Sokka covered his face with his hands and flopped back into the sand. Zuko with Jet, Zuko doing things to Jet, why was it that he was being bombarded with all this potential nightmare material these past few days?

Zuko didn't seem particularly thrilled with the turn of events either, although why he was upset, Sokka didn't know. It wasn't like he was imagining Jet with Sokka...ewwwww, geez, he'd done that to himself!

"Sokka," Zuko said, a little peevishly, "I don't mean to insult your consoling technique, but this isn't really making me feel better about my dead ex. Maybe you should just go."

"No, no, I can do better!"

Except he wasn't quite sure how but the only other option was to leave and Sokka knew for sure that he didn't want that. How could he when he knew that Zuko would sit down here half the night, remembering the delighted cheers from his people as they watched him 'die', gods, brooding over the loss of whatever tiny affection they'd given him before. And Jet--

As Sokka had said many times before, he was a man of action. And so it seemed wisest to capture Zuko's face in his hands and just kiss him, banishing that sorrowful look with lips and tongue until Zuko kissed him back. He pulled back long enough to fumble with Zuko's belt, stripping it away so that his tunics fell open and he could slide his hands over silky, warm skin. Always so warm, shivering briefly against Sokka's cooler hands as he found a nipple, scraped his thumbnail over it lightly until it peaked against his fingertips.

Zuko sighed into his mouth, falling back a little on his elbows and Sokka followed him, their mouths jarring apart but that was all right because he kissed his way downward, licking softly at the hollow of Zuko's throat.

Strong hands slid up to rest on his shoulders, fingertips gentle as they touched his ears, his hair but Sokka shook them away impatiently. He knew exactly what he wanted and he knew right where it was, too.

"So talk to me about it. How did you end up with Jet?" He pressed his mouth low on Zuko's belly, following the fine trail of hair down from his navel. Hey, he had always been good with following a map and he knew right where these directions were leading him.

Zuko drew one leg up and leaned back on his elbows as Sokka untied his pants, tugging the heavy material out of the way. Nuzzled his way inside and here was where the real heat was, the warm smoky scent that he'd long since come to associate with Zuko and sex was strongest here and Sokka buried his face in Zuko's lap and inhaled deeply, ignoring Zuko's startled gasp, the pleading arch of his hips.

"Talk to me!" Sokka said sharply, the words muffled in skin.

Zuko's voice was faint, barely audible over the snarling waves. "I was really...I was lonely...and he was there."

"Kind of like me, huh?"

"No." He could feel Zuko shaking his head, felt that hand resting on his shoulder creeping up again to twine in his hair. "It was nothing like being with you."

Even one handed Zuko managed to easily pull Sokka's hair free from the topknot to let it fall down around his face, which meant he was still way too focused. He managed to tug Zuko's pants down a bit, letting the hard length of his cock almost bounce free in eagerness. It was easy to lick at the head, running his tongue down the jagged circumcision scar, tracing it with the tip. He'd asked the Zuko about it once but the other boy had actually paled and silently shook his head. So he figured he didn't want to know about the bizarre circumcision rites of the Fire Nation. Some mysteries weren't meant to be solved.

"Did he do this to you? Suck you off?" Sokka let his breath ghost over hot flesh, following it with his tongue.

"Yes," Zuko whispered, barely a breath. "Once. On the boat. He...ooooh," his voice trailed into a moan.

That was good, that was perfect. He wanted to hear Zuko's voice, wanted that throaty tenor to moan and beg, plead with him for more. He wanted to be better than Jet, wanted it to be so good that Zuko would look back on it on his death bed and mourn that the world would never again see the like of Sokka's mouth.

Sokka tipped his head just a little, looked up to see Zuko had his head thrown back, mouth open as he panted and his eyes were closed. It made him pull back a little and bite just a fraction too hard at the tip and Zuko jumped, accidently pushing himself deeper as he hissed. "Be careful!"

Sokka let him slip from his mouth and gave him a damp, cheeky grin. "Just making sure I have your attention."

Faint, breathless laughter, "Believe me, you have my complete attention."

If he didn't, then this would get it, Sokka decided. In one easy, smooth move he leaned down and wrapped his lips around the tip, swallowing Zuko's cock into his throat. He could feel the patter of Zuko's pulse against his tongue, the soft cry that escaped from the other boy as his hand went tight in Sokka's hair and he pushed up, almost deeper than Sokka could take.

He probably wouldn't have admitted it, not after the many times he'd teased Zuko about it, but Sokka loved doing this. Loved the feel of hard, silky skin against his tongue, loved licking those helpless little sounds out of Zuko, loved feeling him loving it. Loved--

Sokka pulled back abruptly, ignoring Zuko's disappointed sound and the hopeful arch of his hips. Instead, he ran his hands over Zuko briskly, searching.

"Where is it?" he demanded.

The fog in Zuko's eyes cleared briefly, "Where's what?"

"You always have some sort of lube on you, so where is it?"

He blinked a little, trying to clear his thoughts. "It's not lubricant, it's an ointment for cuts and burns," Zuko smirked. "Luckily it's versatile."

If it hadn't been so dark outside, Sokka might have seen where Zuko had it stashed. As it was, he didn't much care, barely sparing a thought as he skimmed his clothes off as to where exactly Zuko was getting this stuff and how he was explaining that they needed so much of it.

It was easier to ignore all those messy little questions and dip his fingers into the small jar, coating them. He wrapped his hand around Zuko, smearing it briskly over hot flesh before reaching back and sliding a finger inside himself. He saw Zuko's surprise, eyebrows raised, well, eyebrow, wow, he was having sex with a guy who only had one eyebrow.

"Shut up," he muttered to his brain. Just shut up for five minutes.

"I didn't say--"

"Then don't start!"

At least Zuko took the occasional order because he fell back again, subsiding, letting Sokka shuffled forward and straddle him, steadying himself with one hand on Zuko's flat belly as he reached back with the other one to hold Zuko's cock steady, positioning himself.

"Sokka, are you--" Whatever Zuko had been trying to say dissolved in a smothered sigh, Sokka sinking back, forging through the burn as he tried to find that spot again, that little feels-so-so-good inside place. His breath hitched, hips wriggling impatiently because Sokka knew it was there...oh...right there.

"Oh, that feels so good," Sokka whimpered, rising up on his knees and back down hard, jolting inside him.

"Ah!" Zuko cried out softly, his fingers clenched in Sokka's hips, trying to take some control. Sokka ignored them, moving to his own rhythm and Zuko would just have to come along for the ride. "Sokka," Zuko gasped out. "I love..."

Sokka's heart froze, his body not quite able to do the same.

---this," Zuko panted. "Love being inside you, love how tight you are, love...it."

Me too, Sokka didn't say, grinding down, trying to get Zuko even deeper when the world suddenly turned upside down and Zuko was over him. It took him a moment to reorientate and see that Zuko had flipped him onto his back, his knees caught in the crooks of Zuko's arms as he thrust in deeply.

"So...good," Zuko groaned before he leaned down and caught Sokka's mouth in a wet kiss, tongues moving against each other and Sokka might have agreed if the world hadn't caught fire behind his eyes, if he hadn't been squirming against Zuko's grip, begging with tongue and teeth for more, please, more.

The sudden wash of cold water over them barely registered. All he could feel was the heat from Zuko's skin, his breath as he pulled back, thrust deeply a last time before the tremors overtook him and he could feel Zuko spilling inside him, Sokka tipping over the edge with him as his mind bled colors he'd never even heard of.

It took at least two more rushing waves of salty water and one decent shove to get Zuko to roll off of him. As it was, the two of them barely made it back onto dry land, the sand clinging to their bodies like a komodo chicken leg coated for frying.

Sokka didn't much care. He flung an arm over his eyes so he didn't have to look at himself. "Hey, can I ask you something, now?"

From the direction where he knew Zuko was sprawled, he heard a word that seemed to be built of consonants. "Mmph."

Sokka decided that was close enough to a yes. He moved his arm enough to peer out from under it. "What's your opinion of cheese?"

Apparently, the question was of a level that Zuko was willing to move just to stare at him. "Um. I like cheese?" he said doubtfully, like he couldn't quite believe those words were actually being spoken.

"Just like, huh. You don't happen to have some rapturous enjoyment of cheese, some deep love for it that you've never mention?"

Zuko shook his head slowly. "You're really weird."

"Yeah, I know," Sokka sighed. "Never mind, it was a longshot."

In a minute, Sokka was going to get up and take a quick dip in the ocean because even salt water was better than what they were coated with right now. He figured Zuko would join him and then maybe they'd go back to his room and sleep, or not, but whatever they did, he was here right now.

Sokka slid his hand through the sand until he found one of Zuko's, twining their fingers together. After a moment, Zuko squeezed back, gently, and the two of them lay in the sand for just a little while, looking up at the dismal gray sky.

tbc


	13. Interlude: Toph

Interlude: Toph

By Keelywolfe

Summary: Someone is keeping Toph up at night! It's not easy when you see through vibration.

* * *

The only bad thing about seeing through vibration was that, unlike eyes, vibrations never turned off. Toph was pretty used to it by now and she could usually shut out the things she wasn't interested in. But there were times, like tonight, when she was trying to sleep like a normal person would at god-knows-what-time at night, when she couldn't quite get the vibrations out of her head.

She rolled over with a sigh, stuffing her pillow over her head and winding her blanket around her feet. Someone was out there, keeping her awake, and it was starting to get really annoying. She knew who it was, of course; she could tell who every person in their group was by the way they moved. Aang, lightly prancing around like the Twinkletoes he was, Sokka, trampling around like a moose-lion, Zuko, surprisingly easy on his feet for a guy weighted down with all those issues. In fact, Sokka was pretty easy on his feet when Zuko was around, or rather, easy with his body and boy, those were some vibration images to cherish.

Speaking about vibrations, the ones keeping her up tickled back in, like someone tapping on the bottom of her feet and Toph finally gave in, scratching grumpily as she made her way outside to get to the bottom of this. Not that she usually cared about the nighttime activities of the others but this time it was interfering with her nighttime activities, namely sleeping. The night that Zuko and Sokka had snuck off on their fishing trip, she'd known they were up and about but at the time, she'd just figured they were sneaking off to make out somewhere. Like they hadn't been obvious from the very start, man, she'd expected Sokka to start mooning over Hotman Moodybutt much sooner than he had.

She didn't bother putting on any clothes, her underclothes were decent enough to sleep in so they must be decent enough for a little night time jaunt. It didn't take long to follow the vibrations to the courtyard and the person there didn't hesitate in their katas, moving and twisted with expert precision.

"What are you doing out here?" Toph yawned, rubbing her eyes. Weird that she couldn't see out of them but they were still dry after she woke up.

Suki finished her last form before she turned to Toph, "Practicing."

"Shouldn't you be getting all hot and bothered with our fearless leader by now?" Toph flopped down to sit crosslegged on the ground, the pebbles scattering before her butt hit them.

"He's with Zuko." There was a soft sound, a towel being rubbed over sweaty skin. "He was really upset after the play."

"Yeah, the end really did suck," she agreed. Understatement. She'd half expected Zuko to throw himself on a sword. Every step he'd taken as they'd walked away from the theater had been leaden, heavy as an elephant-horse. "You know, not that this is any of my business, but Sokka seems to be spending a lot of time with Zuko lately."

"I know."

"And you're okay with that?"

"What do you think I should do?" Suki sounded genuinely interested. "Yell? Hit him? Demand he pay more attention to me?"

"Yeah! I would start with the hitting, though."

She could hear the smile in Suki's voice. "I've seen all kinds of these trios before. It always starts out evenly and everyone is happy but eventually, it leans from one side to the other until it gets situated."

"And what, you don't even want to try to win?" That didn't sound like the greatest plan to Toph but what did she know? Sokka was the plan guy and even he didn't seem to have a clue in this situation.

"It's not about winning, Toph. I know Sokka loves me. It's about preference. It's like iced cream. It's not really his fault if he wants chocolate right now instead of vanilla and I can't fault him for it."

Toph considered that, toeing the pebbles at her feet. "You just want to beat the crap out of both of them, don't you."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"What are you going to do?"

"Wait until they get things figured out," Suki walked over and sat down next to Toph. "It doesn't take a genius to see they're both pretty new to this kind of stuff."

Toph snorted, "With the way those two dummies are acting, it could be years before they realize what's going on."

"Maybe." Toph felt the faint ripple of motion that meant Suki was shrugging. "But Zuko--" she hesitated. "I love Sokka and I want him, but I think just now Zuko really needs him more than I do."

Inspiration struck, like a flash of light that Toph would never be able to see. "You have a thing for Zuko, too!"

Soft laugh. "What's not to want?"

"He's all, woe and betide, I was once the evil and now I'm just this gloomy guy with bad hair." Toph flung herself to the ground, dramatically pressing the back of a hand to her forehead.

Suki laughed again. "He's also tall, muscled, an excellent warrior, and he kisses really well. Besides, his hair isn't that bad, Katara only said that because she was grouchy that Zuko brained Sokka."

That perked Toph up. "You kissed him?"

"Once," Suki leaned in, whispering conspiratorially. "His mouth was hot and he tasted like jasmine tea."

"And Sokka was all cool with that?" Relationships were weird.

"Sokka is cool with a lot of things that get him a good view."

"Yeah," Toph sighed wistfully. "That's one thing you miss out on when you see with your feet, kissing is a little fuzzy. Of course, the good bits are usually action packed so I can get a good view of that."

"Have you been spying on them, you little sneak?" Suki asked. There was no anger in her voice, only admiration.

"Not deliberately," Toph admitted. "It's not like I can turn the vibrations off, you know? It's weird, though, I always thought Sokka would be the bottom boy. He's so--" she flapped a hand impatiently. "Bottom-y. Zuko never struck me as the type. Hm," Toph considered it. "I bet he's pretty bossy, even on his knees."

"Yeah," Suki said, amused. "And I think Sokka is a big bottom boy, he just hasn't figured it out yet. Did you notice him walking a little funny the past couple of days?"

"I did!" Toph slapped her forehead. "I should have known!"

Toph felt Suki looking around before she leaned in to whisper, "I'm pretty sure that was his first time."

"He doesn't tell you everything?"

"Nope," Suki shrugged again. "I'd love to hear it, I mean, hello hotness, but he doesn't tell me everything. Just most of it."

"I would have thought Sokka even jabbered in his sleep."

"He does," Suki snickered. "But not about sex. He talked about blubbered seal jerky for an hour, once."

"That sucks," Toph exclaimed, slamming a fist into the ground hard enough that a rain of pebbles rose and fell lightly over them. "If I had to listen to him all night I would at least want a running commentary on sexy bits."

Suki was silent a long moment before she said, softly. "I watched them, once."

"Really?" Toph lowered her own voice. Not that she was all that great at girly bonding but even she recognized the, 'don't tell anyone I told you this' voice.

"Yeah, in the bathtub."

"You were in the tub with them!" Toph squeaked. "How did I miss knowing about this! I know everything!"

"It didn't end well," Suki sounded unhappy and didn't elaborate. "But at the time, Sokka was really--" she blew out a sharp breath. "He was wild. And Zuko just let him do whatever he wanted, right there in the tub."

"Wow..." Toph was seriously impressed. "I wouldn't have thought Sokka had it in him."

"He didn't, Zuko did."

It took a second and then, "Ha! You're dirty, I like you."

Suki laughed softly. "Thank you."

They sat there a little while longer, Toph sprawling back on the courtyard, shifting rocks and earth enough to make a comfortable little place to lie, before she said, "Sooo, do you ever try the chocolate side of the iced cream cone?"

"You are way too young for me," Suki said instantly.

Damn. "What, I was just asking," Toph complained.

"No, you weren't," Suki said calmly. "You were broaching the subject slowly and you were going to work up to asking me to kiss you, providing you could think of a reasonable excuse. I'm hoping it wasn't the 'I might die a virgin' one, it's really overplayed."

"Hrmph, I knew Twinkletoes couldn't come up with a plan to save his life," Toph complained. "He told me it would work!"

"Who did he try it on?" Suki asked laughingly. She was moving, doing something to her hair.

"Uh..." Okay, maybe she was hanging around Sokka too often. Her mouth was starting to get an impulse control problem of its own. Unfortunately, Suki didn't seem to be hanging around Sokka enough because she was figuring things out on her own.

"It wasn't Katara, she would have told me," Suki mused. "It obviously wasn't you. That leaves Sokka and...ah. It was Zuko, wasn't it."

"Yeah," Toph sighed glumly.

"He fell for it, didn't he."

"Boys aren't very smart."

"No, they—" Suki cocked her head to the side, listening, at the same moment Toph felt someone, no, two someone's walking down the path. Zuko and if her feet told true, he had stripped off his shirt, mm, well, that verified what they'd been doing on the beach. It was a shame her sand vision was still fuzzy, maybe she should work on that while they were here. Sokka was walking right beside him and—wait a second—

"Sokka, what happened to your clothes?" Suki exclaimed. Both boys jumped, Zuko with a burst of sparks and Sokka with a decidedly girly shriek, which really went along with the way he was wearing Zuko's shirt as a sort of makeshift skirt. Toph slapped a foot on the ground. A really short makeshift skirt, according to her very untwinkling toes.

Zuko still believed in the power of silence and only stood there letting Sokka warble and flail about the ocean attacking them and gobbling up his clothes and it was a good thing they were only Zuko's hand-me-downs and tomorrow, maybe they could go shopping tomorrow and get him something decent to wear, if of course he could find any other clothes to wear to the market because it wasn't like he could wear Zuko's shirt into town, at least not like this--

"I think it's sweet, sharing clothes," Toph broke in loudly. "Next you'll be doing each other's hair, right? Katara was just saying that Zuko could use a little styling, what do you say, Sokka?"

The brief silence was deafening and then.

"We are not doing each other's hair!"

"What do you mean I need some style!"

The chorus of wounded masculinity was like a lullaby to her soul and Toph stood and stretched with a loud yawn. "Well, thanks for the music and the show, but I'm hitting the sack. See you in the morning; hopefully a little less of you, Sokka."

"Toph, wait," Suki said behind her as she climbed to her feet. Toph turned to her expectantly. All this girly bonding was bound to have a price but hey, she'd call it worth it for information gained.

The soft feel of lips against her own was completely unexpected, gentle pressure accompanied by the soft flick of a tongue against her lips. Toph opened to it automatically, hopefully, and to her delight Suki obliged, the velvety wetness of her tongue caressing Toph's far too briefly before she pulled away.

Soft lips brushed her ear as Suki leaned in to whisper, "I know you can't see it but trust me when I say that we aren't the only ones who like a good show."

With that, Suki sauntered away, walking past the two boys and Toph didn't have to see their faces to know they were gaping at the two of them.

Toph graced them with a smirk as she walked past, following Suki into the house. Unlike Sokka, Toph knew that sometimes? You don't have to say a word.

TBC

Note: I must thank Bluetiger for his concern over Sokka and Zuko's clothes while they were on the beach! The image was so funny I had to use it. *G*


	14. As Easy As Breathing

As Easy As Breathing

By keelywolfe

Summary: Set during the first part of Sozin's Comit. Toph and Zuko have a field trip! Yay?

* * *

Zuko would be the first to admit that he didn't know Toph that well. Oh, he knew that she'd been the driving force that had gotten Aang to allow him to stay, even after he'd accidently burned her, but all he really knew about her he'd learned in the past five minutes as she rambled on about her parents and life growing up.

There was a topic of conversation he didn't much want to add to.

But even without knowing well, he could definitely agree with her. As field trips went, this one really sucked. Hadn't anyone in this group learned the benefit of focusing on the task at hand? It was times like this that Zuko really felt the few extra years he had over all of them.

He did have to give Toph credit for one thing though; her persistence. After she'd given up confessing the horrors of growing up spoiled, she decided to try another route of torment.

"So what's up with you and Suki?" she asked, trailing after him. They'd chosen to stick to the beaches where they were less likely to run into anyone who might recognize them. Of course, they could always pretend to be in costume but frankly, Zuko had had enough dealings with that play to last a lifetime.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Zuko said finally, not bothering to turn around. Not that he really wanted to know. Not that he'd cared, but for Sokka. The other boy hadn't said a word about Suki and Toph's little display the night before, his silence unnerving, until Zuko had been tempted to ask him if he was all right. Instead, Sokka had grabbed him by the hand and Zuko had followed him wordlessly to his own room where Sokka had torn off his borrowed shirt and...the memory of what Sokka had done was enough to make his face warm even with the cool breeze from the ocean; their skin had still been tacky and brackish from the sea water and Sokka's mouth slick and hot.

If that was what came of it, Zuko would be happy to have Toph and Suki kiss more often.

Toph snorted, hopping down from a large rock to the sand. "I asked you first. Besides, if there isn't anything going on between you and Suki, then no, you shouldn't be asking me. Unless you're just bored and need some dirty talk to keep you going."

His jaw was beginning to ache from grinding his teeth. It was a wonder that Toph couldn't feel the vibrations from it, but then, she probably could and just didn't care. There was a surprise.

"Look, I know you're getting busy with Sokka. I just wondered why Suki wasn't invited to join the party."

"Did she tell you that?" Zuko asked sourly.

"She didn't tell me anything about it. But I know that you and Sokka do your dirty deeds without her."

Zuko kept his silence; it wasn't any of her damned business. Why did everyone always feel these urges to butt in and ask questions about things that were none of their concern? Especially now, probably the worst time ever for them to being thinking of something so trifling, and yet...

His mouth seemed to have spent too much time in close proximity with Sokka's because it muttered out, "I already have a girlfriend."

He heard Toph stop behind him, considering that, "That's the problem? That's what has all of your loincloths in a bunch? So it's okay for you to cheat on her with Sokka but not Suki?"

Zuko sighed miserably and he found himself feeling a certain bit of sympathy for Sokka; he opened his stupid mouth and got into these situations all the time. "More or less," he mumbled. "It's not uncommon for Fire Nation nobility to have a lover of each sex."

"Oh, the nobles get to have the wild sex orgies, hmm," Toph pondered. "What about the peasants? Do they get to have a little of the fun or are they not invited?"

"I wouldn't know," Zuko admitted. "I wasn't allowed to spend much time with the peasantry." And when he'd been one of them, he hadn't cared enough to pay any attention to it.

"Yeah, me either," Toph said agreeably. For just a few moments there was blessed silence and Zuko was able to scan their surroundings, looking for any sign of Aang. He'd almost managed to focus on their search, when that voice piped up again from behind him.

"So, if I tell you that I don't want to die a virgin, could I get a kiss out of you?"

"No!" he snapped. He'd kissed more people in the past couple weeks than he had his entire life before. Somehow, when he'd backed up his few belongings and left his previous life behind, it hadn't occurred to him that he'd need a bedpost to carve notches in.

"Excuse me for trying," she sniffed, "It worked for Aang."

It took a moment for his brain to catch on that, realization trickling in until it hit like a flood. He stopped so suddenly that Toph walked right into his back, almost knocking both of them to the ground.

"That sneaky, rotten, lying little braggart—"

"Oh, please," Toph scoffed, "You're the one who fell for it. So come on, why don't I deserve one?"

"I told you, I have a girlfriend!"

"You have a boyfriend, too, and it didn't stop you from kissing Aang."

"I don't—" he trailed off. Did he? Unbidden, the memory of ice blue eyes and a sharp smile slipped in behind his eyes. Sokka, whose laughter was as sweet as his kisses, who Zuko had told himself time and again wasn't his, was only someone he was borrowing slightly from Suki. Could he claim that title, just a little? He remembered those same eyes, cold and distant after seeing him kissing Aang, the desperate passion in his kisses just afterward, his anger, his...jealousy?

_I'm not enough for you._

Toph hadn't stopped long enough to let him think about it; her argument in the direction of kissing was both fierce and eloquent. "And don't try that 'you're too young' route, because icebergs aside, Aang and I are the same age. So how about it, Sparky? You've kissed just about everyone in the group, you know. Suki, Aang, Sokka...well, I know you've at least had your mouth on Sokka. How about Katara, did she get a treat from the Snack Man?"

For a moment, Zuko couldn't work past his indignation enough to even speak. He could taste ashes on the back of his tongue, unleashed fury swallowed down as Toph waited, smirking.

"Katara is Sokka's sister, I would _never_!" he hissed out.

"I'm not his sister. You have a better excuse? Unless..." she swallowed hard, her sightless eyes welling. "Unless I'm not very attractive? I...don't really know."

Okay, that was so fake. He didn't know Toph well, but he knew she was stronger than that. Honestly, he suspected Sokka was more feminine than Toph was. After all, he'd seen Sokka wearing makeup and a dress willingly.

A single tear slipped free of her lashes, sending a silvery trail down her cheek.

"Oh, for pity's sake!" Zuko growled. He grabbed the front of her robe and jerked her forward, grinding his mouth against hers in a quick, rough kiss that threatened to bruise his mouth. He let go of her so quickly that she stumbled backwards, one hand rising to cover her swollen lips.

_Happy now?_ He didn't say, whirling around to storm away down the beach. It didn't help. Toph only jogged up next to him, padding lightly on the sand.

"Huh," she mused. "And Suki told me you were a good kisser."

A rush of masculine pride demanding that he prove that he was warred with his horror over the thought of kissing her again.

"Man, and she wasn't lying," Toph said, smacking her lips with great satisfaction, proving that just because Zuko hadn't been born lucky, it didn't mean he wouldn't get a quick visit from time to time.

"Don't you dare tell Sokka or Suki about this!" he snapped. "Or Aang! Or...or anyone!"

"You've got it, Sparky." Her sudden punch was strong enough that his entire arm went numb. He took the pain stoically this time, his pride wounded enough for the day.

Whether she'd decided to take pity on him or she'd finally run out of things to say, Zuko wasn't sure, but after that they continued their search in relative silence. Several times he almost broke it himself, if only to stop his whirling thoughts. Nearly a half dozen pairs of lips had touched his these past few weeks but there was only one set that caught at him.

No. There wasn't time for this, they needed to find Aang, they needed to deal with his father. Zuko closed his eyes briefly at the thought of his father but he'd long since come to terms with knowledge of what needed to be done. If he were honest, he'd admit he barely knew the man; it shamed him to think he'd spent years trying to earn the respect and, yes, love of a man who was practically a stranger.

Love. His thoughts were flickering like a candle in a windstorm, back to an idiotic grin, back to a determined warrior with a sword of the like Zuko had never seen before. Not his, not really, but maybe—

"There isn't time for this!" he muttered aloud, striding faster down the beach.

"Time for what?" Toph asked, confused.

"Nothing," Zuko said, louder. They done nearly a complete tour of the island now and hadn't found as much as a footprint. "Let's head back, there's nothing here."

"Lead on, oh, grumpy one," Toph said agreeably and the silence slipped back between them as Zuko walked back to the house, determinedly thinking only of Aang.

It wasn't until much later, sitting atop of Appa's head as he guided the bison towards the Earth Nation that his stifled thoughts came winging back to him. The girls were drowsing in Appa's saddle, the three of them curled together against the chill night air and Zuko had been focused on guiding Appa when a slim body slipped behind him. He stiffened, startled by the embrace but unable to pull away without tumbling off the bison and into open air.

Sokka didn't say a word, his legs on either side of Zuko's as he pressed himself against Zuko's back, his chin resting on the other boy's shoulder. He felt cool against Zuko's warmer body, Sokka's breath faint and sweet against his ear. No words were spoken and after a moment, Sokka slid his arms around Zuko's waist, one hand splayed over his flat stomach and the other loosely gripping his tunic, holding on.

There was warmth pooling in Zuko's stomach, the first bare stirrings of arousal. He ignored it, ignored the confused jumble of thoughts swirling in his mind and leaned back into Sokka, closed his eyes and just breathed.

tbc


	15. Interlude: Iroh

Interlude: Iroh

By Keelywolfe

Summary: Set during Sozin's comet part 2. Iroh gets an entirely new view of his nephew.

* * *

It was easier than Iroh would have thought to stand aside and allow Zuko to make the morning tea. His nephew had become quite the adept tea brewer, as Iroh had always known he could if he allowed himself the chance. He watched as the young man measured the leaves carefully, minding the water with a cautious eye until it was the proper temperature. Almost, Iroh reached to take the pot, restraining himself as Zuko caught it, working calmly as he poured the steaming water over the waiting leaves, unfamiliar serenity in Zuko as he waited for it to steep.

Always that had been Zuko's problem, his anger and his lack of patience. His nephew had always had little patience for others and none whatsoever for himself. It had made training him a challenge, a worthy one, but a challenge nonetheless. Zuko had been so convinced that he had to do everything flawlessly the first time, never adhering to the adage of practice makes perfect.

It saddened him that he had his brother to thank for that, Ozai and certainly Azula, to whom everything had always come so easily. Neither of them knew what Iroh did and what it seemed Zuko had learned; that facing a challenge and overcoming it made one stronger. They would never understand that their true weakness was that they had never had to struggle past failure. It would undo them, one day. Perhaps this day.

Something had changed in Zuko since he'd seen his nephew last. Zuko had told him little about his confrontation with his father, only saying that his technique in redirecting lightning had been useful.

Hearing that had made a belated rush of fear tighten in Iroh's stomach; he had very nearly lost the boy and hadn't even known it. The very thought of Ozai doing such a thing to his own son was an abomination. He shouldn't be astonished; he shouldn't be so horribly surprised. He knew what his brother was capable of, had seen it with his own eyes. And yet, somehow he always was.

He'd been a sweet child, happy and loving. That child was long since lost, sacrificed in his brother's relentless climb to power.

Zuko had been such a child once as well and that child had been lost in much the same way, sacrificed to Ozai. How many times had his life been nearly ended by the one who was supposed to protect it the most?

The other young ones were approaching, drawn by the heady scent of tea and they all settled around the fire with the familiarity of old friends. It made Iroh smile, secretly, to see his nephew amongst such friends, so obviously one of them with their drowsy morning smiles and jostling.

The young Water Tribe boy yawned loudly as he brushed past Zuko, his nephew's eyes following him, and Iroh narrowed his own eyes, studying them.

Ah, so it was that one, then. He'd suspected as much. He rather wished he'd known his nephew's preference in Ba Sing Se. When a man craved oolong, jasmine tea was never quite as satisfying. He'd had no idea he'd been offering the boy the wrong flavor.

He leaned in closer to his nephew to keep their words private. "A remarkable young man," Iroh commented mildly, gesturing vaguely at the others.

"He's all right," Zuko muttered, carefully pouring the tea into cups. Fragrant steam billowed around them and Iroh inhaled it deeply, pleased.

"How long have the two of you been friends?" he kept his voice quiet, almost casual but a glare from his nephew told him that the boy wasn't fooled. Ah, so his temper wasn't completely lost then.

"Since I joined the Avatar's group, I guess," Zuko said, sipping his own tea tentatively, testing it.

"Mm," Iroh said, speculating. "That long? I didn't realize you were such a fast worker, my nephew."

Ah, and that was a shame. Jasmine tea lost a great deal of its soothing capacity when it was inhaled. Iroh patted Zuko helpfully on the back as he coughed, neatly avoiding his nephew's hand as he tried to bat him away.

"It's not like that, Uncle," he managed to rasp out, furiously.

"Ah. You must like your tea very early in the morning, then."

He could see the urge to ask warring with Zuko's knowledge that it would probably be better not to know and couldn't help smiling inwardly when his nephew asked, reluctantly. "Why do you say that?"

"I mean when Sokka was leaving your tent so early this morning, after your rest. You were having tea, I'm sure."

Instantly, a flood of crimson heated Zuko's cheeks brilliantly, visible even through his scar. "Okay, maybe it's a little like that," he muttered.

"Mm, yes," Iroh said, noncommittally. He picked up his own cup, sipping it slowly. "Excellently done, my nephew. "

Zuko astonished him yet again with an almost shy smile, ducking his head at the praise. He could see the ghost of the child he had been in that smile but it was the man he was becoming that made Iroh's chest swell with pride.

My son, he could never call the boy, he would never hear the word father from Zuko's lips. But that didn't make it any less true. Zuko had not been abandoned so much as he had been thrown away but that did not make him unwanted.

My child, Iroh thought, fiercely._ Mine._

"Do you mean Sokka or the tea?" Zuko said softly, dryly, and it startled a laugh from Iroh. A smile and a joke, no less! Yes, his nephew had changed and it made him love the boy all the more. His nephew had grown from a sweet child to a surly teenager to a strong young man. Not his son, not a thing like Lu Ten, and Iroh would not have changed him for all the world.

He clapped his nephew firmly on the shoulder, leaving him to carry the tray of cups to the others. "This reminds me of my favorite tea joke," he announced loudly, moving to sit by the fire. "There were two lotus flowers that spent an entire day growing, reaching towards the sun, only to have night fall before they could open. The next day when the sun rose, the first flower turned to the second and asked, 'should we open today?' To which the second replied--"

"Leaf me alone, I'm bushed," came a chorus from around the fire.

Iroh blinked. "I see, you've heard that one."

"Something like that," Toph snorted and a titter of laughter came from all the children, although none offered a reason. Keeping their secrets, he saw, whatever had caused his nephew to blush and the others to laugh would not be shared with him. Zuko settled next to him with his own cup, drinking in silence though his eyes were drawn again and again to another pair across the fire, gold meeting blue before one of them would glance away and then the play began again.

When the cups were empty Zuko retrieved them as if out of habit, going back to the small tent that held their kitchen supplies. Iroh followed him and helped him gather a pot to prepare their breakfast. It was enough that children must fight in this war but Iroh refused to allow them to do so on an empty stomach.

"I really like him." So softly that for a moment Iroh wasn't convinced he'd actually heard it. He turned to look at his nephew-

_(Not his son, no, except that he was.)_

_-_questioningly, and Zuko smiled again, a little.

"A remarkable young man," Iroh repeated, and he pulled his nephew into a rough hug, dropping everything that he'd gathered. For just a moment, he felt that lost child again in the tight way Zuko clung to him, but it was Zuko who let go first, kneeling to gather up the tumbled makings of their breakfast. After a moment, Iroh helped him and the two of them went outside, Iroh following his nephew, his son that this day he might once again be sending out to die.

Destiny, he knew, was a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out.

But he could hope.

tbc


	16. Stealing Darkness

Stealing Darkness

By Keelywolfe

Summary: In the previous story, Iroh saw Sokka sneaking out of Zuko's tent in the morning. So what exactly happened in that tent the night before?

* * *

It was the tea that did it, Sokka decided later. It was an old person thing, he knew, that the second they saw someone who didn't already have half a foot in the grave, they had to ply them with food. Not that Sokka was complaining, he'd eaten his share and then some, and his cup had never seemed empty, no matter how many times he'd drained it.

But somehow, even tasty, glorious meat hadn't been able to completely distract him. Time and again his eyes had strayed to a tent at the other end of camp, still and quiet in the too-early morning dimness. He'd seen Katara talking to Zuko before he'd gone in, their dark heads close together as they whispered and his insides had clenched, part of him wanting to run over and join them, tell Zuko himself not to be stupid. If they could forgive him then surely his Uncle would. It was obvious the old man loved his nephew. How his own father didn't was a mystery to Sokka because all you had to do was talk to him to see how brave he was, how strong, how...good.

Sokka had shaken it away, clenching one hand on his bowl as he scooped rice into his mouth. Better to let Katara talk to him because if Sokka did, he wasn't sure what might come spilling out of his mouth, a flood of words that might engulf them both. No, not right now.

They'd been given tents of their own and none of the old people had raised so much as an eyebrow when it had been clear that Suki and Sokka intended to share. It was just as well; they were only going to get a few hours of sleep. He didn't need to spend any precious resting points on arguing that his virtue was no one's business but his own, and, well, whoever he chose to let defile it. He'd barely managed to pull the blanket over them both when he'd fallen asleep.

Except for the damned tea. It couldn't have been more than a couple hours when he woke up with an overwhelming need to piss. Suki was curled against him, understandably exhausted, and had barely murmured a protest when he slipped out from under her arm and stepped into his boots before ducking out into the cool night air.

The moon was low in the sky, a ghostly halo surrounding it, and it gave him enough light to make it a little ways out of camp to find a likely shrub to water. Aching bladder given relief, he yawned hugely as he made his way back to camp, trying to remember which tent was his.

Another dark figure moving silently through the camp startled him and he crouched down automatically, eyes narrowing and his heart pounding. It took him a bare moment to recognize him, tall and slim, and the graceful way he moved was one that Sokka sometimes saw in his dreams.

Really, if he got any soppier, he was going to ask Toph to brain him with a rock.

But somehow, Sokka found himself following, his feet moving after that shadow and when it ducked into another tent, Sokka went with it.

He felt more than saw Zuko startled, the other boy shifting almost warily into a form that Sokka knew terribly well. He knew them all by heart; months of watching had engraved the various poses of bending into his brain. If he'd had even an ounce of bender to him, Sokka could have been another Avatar.

"Sokka?" Zuko whispered. He sounded a little hoarse, like he was sick or...or maybe he'd been crying, oh, gods, Sokka had been so sure Iroh would forgive him, he'd--

"Make some fire," Sokka said, unthinkingly.

"Make some fire?" Zuko parroted blankly, his hands staying loose at his sides.

"Yeah, I've seen you do it before, in your hand."

Zuko frowned a little, but lifted one hand, palm up. A small flame grew in the cup of his palm, illuminating him. It made his skin golden, his eyes luminous and Sokka couldn't look away from it. Hesitantly, Sokka reached out, felt Zuko shift a little in surprise as he put his hand under Zuko's, the two of them cupping the tiny flame.

"I know it's stupid, but I always want to ask if that hurts." Sokka said in a hushed voice. Zuko's hand felt warm in his, not quite too hot, shielding him from the blaze in his palm.

"It doesn't," Zuko said, slowly, his eyes meeting Sokka's across their hands. "It just feels warm. Fire is alive, in a way. It needs air and food, it grows, it dies." The little flame danced in his palm, growing and falling with Zuko's breath and when Sokka reached for it with his other hand, fingertips singeing against the heat, it abruptly went out in the clench of Zuko's fist.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, snatching Sokka's hand, his own fingertips skimming lightly over Sokka's. "Did I burn you?"

Realization was like coming out of the fog over the ocean and seeing the sun sparkle over the clear blue water. Slowly, deliberately, Sokka pulled his hand free, reaching to cup Zuko's face in his hands before he leaned in and kissed the confusion from his lips.

"Zuko," he breathed, so softly, "Burn me."

Zuko jerked, not quite pulling away and his breath came faster, soft blurts between them. They fell to the ground in a slow, confused tumble, arms and legs moving and tangling as they both tried to pull clothes out of the way, at least enough. The feel of bare skin against his own made Sokka shudder, rougher cloth scraping where they hadn't quite gotten it all off, and Zuko made a low noise deep in his throat, biting lightly at Sokka's adam's apple before lifting his head and claiming Sokka's mouth again.

He tasted like tea and salt, the taste of salt everywhere on his face like tears hastily swept away and Sokka kissed it more, wanted to kiss that flavor away. He felt greedy, like he couldn't get enough, like he could take everything Zuko could offer him and more.

It was easy to roll him over, roll Zuko under him, their mouths jarring apart for a moment. Just long enough for Zuko to gasp his name and then Sokka swept his tongue over those soft, thin lips and inside, into the dark softness of that mouth.

His hands trembled over Zuko's thighs, a nervous moment where he almost hesitated, almost asked but Zuko was already arching into his touch, fumbling a small jar into his hand and for once Sokka didn't care where it came from, slippery fingers greedily playing between Zuko's legs and lower, sliding inside to find the sweet spot that made Zuko choke, slim body arching up and the light was dim but Sokka didn't have to see it. He knew the curve of every muscle, the pearl paleness of that skin in moonlight and suddenly, he couldn't wait anymore.

He pushed Zuko's knees up, shuffling forward a little, enough that he could press slowly inside, feel that perfect tightness surrounding him. Sokka couldn't help being tender, rocking inside him and he felt half-asleep still, dazed and lazy with sensation, tight heat around him and Zuko's mouth against his own, their shared breath damp between them.

"So good," Zuko whispered, leaning up enough to steal a slick kiss, tongues sliding together and the heavy scent of their sex filled the small tent, in them, around them as they rocked together.

It couldn't last long, Zuko choking off little whimpers as he palmed his cock, his fist working between them and the shock of wet heat against Sokka's belly was enough to set him off, burying his face in the warm, salty curve of Zuko's neck as he closed his eyes and came. He breathed in the scent of firebender for long moments, Zuko's scent, before he finally raised his head and looked at the other boy, blue eyes the same as golden ones in the dark.

"I love you." It slipped out of him, words escaping from him as they so often did. Sokka could no more have stopped himself from saying it than he could have held those flames in his bare hands. His mouth was stupid sometimes and it blurted out things that shouldn't be spoken but this was different. He had to say it. He wanted to say it. It was a confession meant for dark nights and the sun would be rising all too soon.

Zuko was silent and Sokka was surprised at his own inner calm. It didn't matter how Zuko felt, not really, because Sokka felt how he felt, he loved Zuko and that wasn't going to change.

Finally, Zuko sighed, leaned in to rest his forehead against Sokka's shoulder. It left the line of his neck exposed and Sokka couldn't help but press his face into it, inhaling the warm scent of soft skin again. He let a hand drift up the rounded bumps of Zuko's back, over the smooth skin of his neck and into his hair. It was heavy and slick-soft, slipping through Sokka's fingers like something alive and he loved it. Loved.

"Yeah," Zuko said finally, heavily. "Me too.

There was nothing else to say, both of them holding the other in the silence, until the sunlight finally crept into their tent and stole the darkness away.

tbc


	17. All That We See Or Seem

All That We See Or Seem

By Keelywolfe

Summary: Set during the last episode. The Fire Lord is defeated and Sokka is looking for someone.

* * *

It didn't feel like Aang had expected. All his life he'd been told about this great power that he possessed and even when he'd learned the other elements, coaxed them to his will, it hadn't felt quite the same as Airbending. Not wrong, exactly, but not quite as natural. He had to reach deeper for each of them, Earthbending especially, had to pull it from his center, from that place inside himself that wasn't Aang, but the Avatar.

There had been a bare handful of time that it had all felt perfectly aligned within himself and that had been those times he'd gone unwillingly into the Avatar state. He'd felt the power then, the perfection, but he hadn't been able to hold onto it, the feeling slipping away from him like sand through his fingers. Or water.

Now he could feel it, humming softly just outside of his consciousness and knew that when he drew on it for, it would come. That perfection was his and he could use it when he needed it, felt the bell-like sweetness of the elements in harmony inside himself.

A pained moan drew his attention and Aang turned back to the defeated Fire Lord lying weakly on the ground. It was strange to see him like this, so close that Aang could nudge him with the toe of his boot. Over the past year he'd gotten an idea of the Fire Lord lodged in his head, a little dream image that haunted him from time to time, and now seeing him, actually seeing him, that nightmare smeared image was fading and he could see that the Fire Lord...that Ozai was just a man. He was younger than Aang had expected; the lines at the corners of his eyes still faint, his body unbent by years gone by.

If he looked at him objectively he could see that the man was even sort of attractive, for an old guy.

Aang realized with a start that Zuko looked a lot like his father.

One of the airships coasted closer, the docking plank drawing out to rest on the stone butt and he turned towards it eagerly, watching Toph and Suki help a limping Sokka down the plank. He had one leg bandaged tightly with a ragged length of cloth but no one else seemed to have as much as a bruise. Aang grinned at them all, barely restraining himself from throwing himself at them except that Sokka looked like he was barely teetering on his feet as it was and falling off the rock into the canyon now wouldn't be a good thing.

They'd won, he was coming to realize, the reality of it settling in. They'd won and come out alive! They'd actually done it and if there was ever a time to celebrate, it had to be now. He waited eagerly for the joke that he knew Sokka would toss out, the glee, because Sokka was the plan guy, the meat and sarcasm, he was the humor guy, the glue that had held their ragtag little team together.

His smile faltered when the jokes didn't come, when Sokka limped closer to the man lying pathetically defeated in the dirt. He stared at Ozai coldly and Aang watched in silence as Sokka spat on him and turned away, turning his back to their fallen enemy.

The grin that lit Sokka's face sent the smoldering ashes of his joy alight again, and here was the glee he'd been waiting for. "You should have seen yourself!" Sokka yelled, tottering on one leg as he flailed his arms. "It was amazing! You were like, byoooo!" He waved his hands madly in something that could have been a firebending form if the firebender really had to go to the bathroom.

He relaxed happily into Sokka's crazy monologue, reaching up to scratch Momo's ears when the slight weight of the lemur settled on his shoulder. If this was what he'd saved the world for, so that nutty Water Tribesmen had a place in it, he'd call that good enough.

~*~

The main plaza in the palace was already crowded with people, brimming with victory as they stood on soil that wasn't so much conquered as returned to the rightful heir. Aang had already been escorted out and much as Sokka had been wary of letting him go with an honor guard made up of fire nation nationals, well, like he could have stopped them, anyway. Besides, Aang was more than a match for anything the 'C' students of firebending had to throw at him.

He'd been a lot less wary of the very nice physician who'd been quickly summoned to look at his leg. One teacup of a particularly foul tasting brew and Sokka would have been happy to let Momo set his leg. He'd flopped back and let the guy do his thing, singing a dirty little Earth Kingdom song that Toph had taught him one night. He didn't quite understand it all but he was sure he knew what shove your hard rock into my moist cave stood for.

Pretty sure, anyway.

They'd made him stay until the rainbow shine at the edges of his vision had faded somewhat, the doctor guy handing him a crutch firmly before grumbling off to take care of some of the other wounded.

"Thanks, doctor guy!" Sokka called after him happily, shuffling to his feet and into the crowd. There were people to be found and while he knew Katara and Zuko were alive and stuff, and yeah, their welcome here might have been a little less doctorly and a little more jailer-ly if they hadn't, Sokka kinda wanted to see them with his own eyes, hug them with his own arms. Tight.

He slowly made his way through the crowd, searching for a splash of blue since there still seemed to be an overabundance of red just yet. It was a little rough going; every once in a while he'd forget and put weight on his bad leg and a shot of pain would shoot hard through the pretty fog still misting his brain. Man, he'd have to find out just what that potion was or the next few weeks were going to suck.

It took him a second to realize he could hear someone shouting his name.

"Sokka!" Katara called, one hand raised and waving frantically. She darted through the crowd much faster than Sokka's one leg and crutch could manage and just stopped herself from throwing her arms around him when she saw him.

"Your leg," she gasped, already trying to kneel, her hands reaching towards his bandaged limb.

"Not now, someone already looked at it, it's all right," Sokka said, anxiously scanning the area around her. He should be here, standing in the background like he always did, waiting for it to be his turn. Then Sokka could hold them both close and reassure his aching heart that they were all right.

All around them were friends, the swamp benders, the invasion troops, even plenty of fire nation locals, but the one person Sokka needed to see wasn't there.

His heartbeat was echoing in his ears. "Where's Zuko?"

"He's all right, he's with the court physician right now." Her expression darkened. "He and Azula fought and she cheated. Big surprise there. But he's going to be all right."

"Well, come on, let's go," he said impatiently, already limping towards the palace doors.

Katara lingered behind him, one hand raised as though to hold him back. "Sokka, wait," she called, her brow creased as she jogged up next to him.

"I don't want to wait," Sokka told her, more than a little edgy. He felt jittery with leftover adrenaline and the weird potion. "I want to see that he's okay." It seemed like five minutes ago they'd all been wanted criminals of the Fire Nation and Zuko had been a traitor. Did he even have to tell Katara how much he didn't trust this easy acceptance of the old Fire Lord's defeat? They'd taken Aang off and Zuko was hurt and alone, and if Sokka hadn't been half out of his brain on pain and drugs he might have been warier before.

He ignored Katara's protests, a low buzz in his ear as he pushed his way through the crowd. What was _wrong_ with her, anyway?

"Sokka, you need to stop!" The sudden hot pain of her hand against his cheek jolted him to a stop, the loud crack of it almost as shocking. He stared at her, one eye watering from the startling pain and he raised a hand to touch his cheek wonderingly, felt the heat from it. She'd...she'd actually hit him. Sokka didn't even remember the last time he and Katara had come to blows. Certainly he hadn't raised a hand to her since before he'd worn a wolf's tail; his gran gran's threats over what punishment he could earn by hitting a girl hadn't made it seem worthwhile.

He blinked at her, still flush with weird fire nation hallucinogens and the hot throbbing in his cheek. Her eyes were apologetic but he still couldn't help flinching as she reached up to touch his face, liquid cool easing the pain that she had caused.

"I'm sorry, but you need to listen to me," Katara said, her words urgent but gentle. "You can't just go barging into the palace like this."

"Why not?" he challenged. She hadn't had a problem with him and Zuko before and now was a pretty sucky time to start. He was in there right now with the people who'd been following his dad all these years and who knew what they were doing to him?

"Because he's the new Fire Lord, or just as good as. Do you really think the guards are going to let you in?" Her eyes were sad. "I wouldn't have been able to stay as long as I did if Zuko hadn't insisted. I'm not entirely sure they'll let us back in and now is not the time for us to be arguing the guards. Everything is still confused, it'll be a while before things settle down."

"Of course it's confused, they aren't used to being—" Not evil, he didn't say, eyeing the fire nation people milling around the plaza warily. "He should have us with him, he shouldn't be alone."

"He isn't alone," Katara insisted. "Aang is with him. And trust me, no one is going to hurt him. I know it doesn't seem like it, but a lot of people are glad he's taking over. They aren't blind, they could see what was happening with Ozai, but there wasn't much they could do. They follow their leader. And Azula—" her expression tightened again, whatever story was behind that Katara didn't seem up to talking about it yet. "Believe me, Zuko is welcome here."

"But—" he whispered, every part of him wanted to protest, especially the ache in the pit of his stomach, the one that told him Zuko had been hurt and he should be there. But he couldn't find words to argue with Katara's logic.

"I'm sure you'll see him soon. Please, let's just go find dad for now." He let Katara pull him away, limping slowly after her before he suddenly stopped. She turned towards him, concerned, and he pulled her closer, hugging her tight. Words choked in his throat for once and how could he tell her how hard it had been to let the two of them go out alone? He didn't doubt their skills, knew that they could both pretty much kick his ass at will but he'd known what they were up against and even knowing he wouldn't be the most helpful guy against a crazy firebender didn't stop him from wanting to be with them.

Slowly, he let her go and she looked almost more concerned but let it go, giving him a warm smile before pulling him along again, her blue eyes searching anxiously through the crowd. It seemed to take forever, the dull ache in his leg sending out low throbs of pain that were trickling through the lingering medicinal fog. He was nearly tempted to ask Katara to take a break when he felt her come up short, felt the tremble of recognition go through her.

"Dad!" Katara cried out, the happiness in her voice was like a song. She darted away, leaving Sokka to follow her as fast as his unhappy leg would allow. It was easier to forget the ache when his father's strong arms pulled him in, hugging him tightly.

"I heard what you both did" his father said, smiling warmly down on them. "I am the proudest father in the whole world. And I know your mother would be proud, too."

He could see the tears welling in Katara's eyes and he had to swallow away a lump in his own throat. Even so, he was only half listening, lingering thoughts kept drifting back towards the palace, unwilling fears heavy in his chest. Sokka wasn't a magic guy, didn't have an ounce of waterbending to him. He was a warrior and he trusted what he could see and touch, preferring to remain outside of all the mystical mumbo jumbo. He'd seen where those paths led, straight into moon girlfriends and weird spirit journeys. So he stuck with those basics, see and touch, and right now the one he wanted to see and touch was getting spirits only knew what kind of treatment behind those heavy, closed doors.

His goodbye to Zuko at the White Lotus camp had been awkward and quick, neither one of them willing to do more than wish the other a good journey before they'd gone their own ways. It had been completely unsatisfying, words unspoken between them and knowing what they wanted to say didn't exactly make up for not saying it. That had been an inspiration to stay alive right there. There was no way he was going to die without hearing Zuko say it.

Hanging from the air ship, Toph barely clinging to him, he'd had little time to regret that he hadn't said the hell with it and just kissed him, or even just pulled him in a little and whispered it. If they'd still been on Ember Island, he wouldn't have hesitated, might have even left a hickey to remind Zuko exactly what was what. It was different somehow when the onlookers weren't just Team Avatar, who all knew and didn't really care. Even with the knowing, almost sly looks Iroh had given him, it suddenly seemed...weird.

It wasn't like he didn't know Zuko was a prince. He'd been just about blaring it around since the moment they'd all done their first, unpleasant get-together. But somehow, hearing the words, Iroh saying that Zuko would be the next Fire Lord had been a nasty little jolt.

Things were going to change, he'd expected them to change, but he could already tell some of those changes were not going to make him happy. It was already beginning, you can't go in and see the new Fire Lord, the new Fire Lord is with his physician, the new Fire Lord is with the Avatar, not Aang, no, the Avatar and a something was tightening anxiously in his throat and deeper. He had to see Zuko, not the new Fire Lord before things got even weirder. He just needed to talk to him.

The rustle of skirts caught his attention and he looked up, a smile breaking through his gloom as Suki and her Kyoshi warriors joined them.

"There's my favorite warriors!" he called, forcing cheer into his voice. "You know, I even missed the face paint."

It was Suki's smile, her eyes, that told him the truth; sad and a little distant, her true face hiding behind her warrior's mask. It made him falter a little, slowing his rush to her, and he knew. If he kissed her, she'd accept it...as a friend. He stepped up to her, one hand hesitating at her shoulder and his mouth opened, some stupid apology forming because he loved her, he did, and his heart was aching but really, it wasn't with her. And they both knew it.

Before he could say anything, her gloved hand gently cover his mouth, stifling whatever stupidity might have tumbled out, words that wouldn't have helped dammed behind his teeth.

"So how does it feel to be back in uniform again?" Sokka asked, and if his voice was a little husky, Suki didn't say, the same way Sokka politely ignored the overbright shine in eyes and the way she widened them deliberately, tipping her head up to keep any wetness from messing up her face paint.

"It feels great!" Came a too cheery voice from behind her and Sokka gaped, automatically shoving Suki behind him because hey, maybe they were breaking up but it didn't mean he wanted her _dead_. Leaving a trail of dead girlfriends behind was the kind of reputation that would stick with a guy.

And how could he have known that Ty Lee had joined the Kyoshi warriors for real this time? It wasn't like they had a newsletter or something because if they did, Sokka would have signed up for a hawk-o-gram ages ago. The way people kept switching sides around here, a guy really needed a chart to keep track.

There was still a pain in his heart, a regretful clenching that let could-have-beens and might-have-dones, half-realized dreams that would never come true hovering sickly in his chest. But seeing her with her people made it a little easier, a feeble salve on his wounded heart. She would be all right, at least, and soon, maybe he would be, too.

The low, hollow sound of a gong drew everyone forward, the plaza falling silent as all the people settled into place and no one protested when Sokka pushed his way to the front, his father's hand under his elbow supporting him as he made his way shakily through the crowd. His eyes saw nothing but the raised dais and the tall figure that walked out onto it through parted curtains. Encased in horrible, unfamiliar robes that made him seem broader than Sokka knew he was, his hair bound up in a topknot, drawing out the angular lines of his cheeks. He seemed older than he was, solemn and determined. Strong. This was the new Fire Lord before them, speaking of peace, kneeling before them as he accepted his birthright.

Sokka ignored it all, barely noticed that it was his father's strength that kept him upright. His eyes were tracing every line of the man in front of him greedily, absorbing every word, every faint smile, and all he saw was Zuko.

~~*~~

It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the lengths that the Royal Guard went through to keep their new lord safe, he completely did, would have demanded it, in fact. There was bound to be a nutjob or two out there who wasn't happy with the new world order and taking out the new guy in charge might be a pretty effective way to throw things into chaos. Even if Zuko could take care of himself, it would be better if he didn't have to, or at least not much.

So yeah, protective guards, great, except for how they seemed to want to protect him from Sokka and that wasn't even in the realm of helpful. Particularly the little guy who seemed to be in charge of the schedule, whom Sokka had mentally dubbed The High Lord of Jerkiness. It seemed like every time Sokka tried to get in to see him, there was the High Lord with some excuse. The Fire Lord is in a meeting, the Fire Lord has gone to question a prisoner,

_(and what the heck did that mean?) _

The Fire Lord, blah, blah, blah. The H. L. of Jerk. was getting close to getting a crutch up his ass and when he did, Sokka was going to give it an extra twist while he explaining he didn't give two squirts about the Fire Lord, he wanted to see Zuko.

It was nearly dusk when Sokka decided to employ alternate means. Mainly, distraction and all a guy needed for that was the proper method of implementation.

"Is this entirely necessary," Aang asked dubiously, his feet dragging against the carpet as Sokka prodded him along.

"Yes," Sokka assured him, poking him in the back with his crutch to keep him moving. "Now, remember the plan, all you need to do is distract them while I get inside, okay? Nothing too fancy, but if that doesn't work, feel free to encase them in ice, or stone, or whatever's handy. But not fire, that would be a little extreme."

"A little, yeah," Aang agreed, still doubtful, but he wasn't saying no, that was the important thing. "Are you sure he's even in there?"

"Ye-es," Sokka said, drawing it out in an exaggerated sigh. "There wouldn't be a gang of clones guarding the door if it was just a closet, you know."

"But why don't you just ask-"

"I did ask, and then I begged, and then I threatened!" Sokka hissed, "The first and second got ignored and I'm pretty sure they laughed at the third. Please, Aang, I just want to see him for a minute! I'm pretty sure Zuko won't let them kill us if they get mad."

Pretty sure.

"Okay, okay," Aang held up his hand in surrender. "I'll help. I just really don't want to destroy world peace on the first day."

That didn't even deserve an answer. He wanted to talk to Zuko and make sure he was okay, and possibly sex him up a little bit if he was up to it. They weren't plotting an assassination, unless you counted his mental thoughts towards his Jerkiness.

Sokka peered around the corner, eyeing the two guards posted next to the heavy wooden doors. "Okay, he's still in there. Go do your stuff."

With a heavy sigh, Aang pasted a bright, fake smile on before skipping out to talk to the guards. Sokka didn't even bother to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. Way to overdo it, Aang. Still, his animated gestures and bright chatter seemed to be working; the guards were drawing away from the door, warily, obviously wanting to help the Avatar but reluctant to leave their lord. Finally, the door was clear enough for Sokka to sneak past them, slipping silently inside and he made a mental note to tell Zuko he needed some better guards. These ones didn't seem very focused on the job.

The long hallway inside was darkened but he could see a lit doorway at the end, creeping along as carefully as a guy with a crutch could. Not that he was trying to scare Zuko but he didn't exactly want to bump into any extra guards either. He didn't really want anyone to fry first and ask questions later.

He peered through the doorway, eyes searching, and they lit instantly on the one person they'd been searching for all day. Hair free of the topknot and wearing only a loose robe, wow, this was obviously Zuko's bedroom, good luck all the way around. It was easy to ignore the fact that this one room was half the size of his entire village and the nagging pain in his leg faded as he finally stepped into the room.

He'd still been quiet, hadn't given any sign of his presence that he knew of but somehow Zuko sensed him, looking up and their eyes met. Sokka managed a weak smile, words choking in his throat because he wanted to say, we did it, buddy, or hey, whose the new lord, or even let those three little words spill again, softly, but all he could do was limp forward, hands already reaching. Just now, he'd rather use his mouth for something other than words. He has his hands on Zuko in an instant, his mouth tilting up for a kiss--

And Zuko pushed him away, his grip on Sokka's arms hard enough to be painful.

What's wrong, Sokka didn't have a chance to say, words dying on his lips because Zuko's face was carefully blank and there was another face over his shoulder, one Sokka hadn't seen since they'd been escaping from prison, pale and beautiful, dark eyes bored. She was sitting on the bed, one leg drawn up under her and her chin resting on a slender hand.

"Please, don't stop on my account," she drawled, a faint smirk curving one corner of her mouth.

Zuko's lips thinned. "Sokka, you've met Mai."

"Yeah," Sokka whispered. His eyes felt too-large and dry, his throat clicking as he swallowed painfully. "Gloomy and sighing. I remember."

"I remember you, too," Mai said boredly. "Ty Lee will be disappointed she missed you."

"I already saw her," Sokka couldn't seem to stop talking even though each word felt like it was being drawn out of him with a knife, sharp and cold.

"Yes, her and the girls. That seems to have worked out well." She didn't sound much as if she cared one way or another.

He startled when Zuko moved, pulling his hands away. Sokka could still feel the imprint of them on his arms and he dimly realized he'd have bruises tomorrow, darkened circles around his biceps like dull tattoos.

Zuko pushed one hand through his hair roughly, turning away. "Look, Sokka, why don't we talk later, okay? I know we have a lot to talk about I just...maybe tomorrow, all right?"

The seeping paralysis that had crept over him from the first moment Zuko had touched him seemed to break and Sokka jerked his head up, eyes meeting Zuko's again and he could see the pleading in them, begging him to leave.

"Yeah, tomorrow, sorry," Sokka said, dully. "I should go."He couldn't look at Zuko anymore, eyes falling down the tiles of the floor where it was safe. They were pretty, he realized, the edges curling with frolicking dragons. Each one probably cost more than everything Sokka owned.

"I...yeah," Zuko said, slowly. "I've made arrangements for you all to stay in the palace. I'll have someone show you and Suki to your room."

Sokka didn't bother to correct him, only backed away, the doorjamb hitting him in the back before he even realized how far away he was. He didn't look up, barely stopped himself from flinching violently when a hand slid into his field of vision and hesitated.

"Do you need a hand? Your leg-"

"No, no, I'm fine," Sokka said brightly, limping back through the door. "I'll just...I'll get out of your way."

"Sokka-"

And Sokka realized he didn't have to look at Zuko, he knew the helpless expression that was on his face, knew it like a well loved book and with that knowledge came a sharp burst of pain, breaking through his numbness.

"Tomorrow," Sokka said, a little sharply, even as he backed further away, he had to get out of here, had to get out.

"Tomorrow," Zuko echoed and that was the last word between them as Sokka made his way stiffly back out into the darkened hallway and out the main door. He didn't even bother trying to be discreet and if the guards thought his sudden appearance was strange, they didn't say.

Aang was waiting around the corner, twisting his hands together anxiously. His tentative smile faded as Sokka limped past him, barely aware of where he was even going.

"Sokka?"

"I'm really tired." His voice was thready, weak. "Do you know where our rooms are?"

Aang ignored that, falling into step beside him."What happened?" Aang whispered, urgently, his eyes wide and dark in his pale face.

"It's fine," Sokka said automatically. "It's...fine. But my leg really hurts. I want to lie down."

He had to stop talking then, couldn't keep trying to reassure the anxiousness he saw on Aang's face. Instead he leaned heavily on his crutch and didn't protest when Aang slipped under his other arm, steadying him.

It was easy to lean on Aang, all of a sudden, borrowing the surprising strength in that small frame. He followed it down long hallways, to another room with large ornate doors. He took Aang's hesitation to mean that this was his room and slid away from him, nearly falling from the loss of support.

"Sokka, do you need anything?" Aang hovered, reluctant to leave him.

"Nah," Sokka didn't even try to smile. "Thanks for helping."

He barely made it inside before he collapsed, bad leg stretched out in front of him and the other pulled up tight to his chest, both arms wrapped around it. His eyes felt achingly dry, staring into a spacious room with a welcoming fire crackling in the hearth. He could see his own bag resting on a chair and a small, familiar cup that he recognized as holding more of that mindbending fire nation medicine waiting helpfully for him.

He ignored it all, concentrating on the growing throb in his leg, letting that pain overshadow everything as he sat on the cold floor and stared into the silent room, his eyes seeing nothing at all.

tbc


	18. Go Your Own Way

Go Your Own Way

By Keelywolfe

Sokka/Zuko, other pairings

Summary: C'mon, you read the last one. This continues from there.

Note: I know, the last one ended in a bad place. I hope the wait for this one wasn't too bad. Enjoy!

* * *

Sokka didn't know how long it had taken him to work up the energy to get up from the floor, but by the time he had, he'd been stiff and cold, all but crawling to the bed. He'd only stopped to get his dose of medicine, swallowing the bitterness quickly since there was no way he was going to be able to sleep without it.

Hours later, he wasn't having much luck sleeping with it. The sweet silvery lethargy was the same as before but he couldn't lose himself in it, the medicinal daze tainted with his own thoughts that refused to be still. Golden eyes and an unsmiling face were haunting him, a ghost that wasn't even dead but wouldn't give him any peace.

He told himself it didn't matter. Should have expected it, really; they'd never meant to be any more than a pair of buddies screwing around in stressful times. It was practically a relaxation technique. His sneaky, well-medicated brain slyly supplied him with the image of a bunch of warriors training in the art of relaxation through sex and he snorted laughter so loud that it echoed in his too-large room.

He wanted to tell himself that tomorrow he'd shrug it off and move on but he had a sneaking suspicion that that wasn't true. There was a little voice inside him that was crying that this wasn't fair, it wasn't, it wasn't! He'd sacrificed too, he'd fought, he'd shed sweat and blood and tears. Didn't he deserve some happiness too?

Sokka rolled over and buried his face into his pillows, resisting the urge to slap himself stupid. Or stupider, really, because that was probably the most selfish thought he'd ever had. Like he'd done all that for what it could get him? He'd never expected anything more out of his travels with Aang than a little adventure and maybe to save the world. Or possibly a horrible gruesome death, you had to be prepared for that kind of failure, too. It was a little late to start making requests of the gods; if he'd wanted personal happiness he should have submitted that prayer in advance.

There was another tiny part of him that whispered he should go to Suki, let himself lose his pain in her arms and between her legs. She'd let him in, he knew, she loved him enough to give him that.

He snorted, rolling over again and wincing as he jarred his bad leg. Yeah, that was a good idea. The one he'd wanted has pretty much dumped him so he thought he'd try for a consolation prize?

Nice, Sokka, you're a prince.

Except how he wasn't and that had to be part of the problem; he wasn't a prince and worse, he wasn't a princess and he didn't know a lot about royalty but he thought he could make some pretty good guesses about the need for heirs and things. And tomorrow, he supposed he was going to end up listening to Zuko stumbling through apologies and explanations along that line and Sokka wasn't entirely sure he could bear it. But he would. What else could he do?

This was his fault, he decided. He'd loved Suki too little and Zuko too much and now he had to deal with it. But, oh, he'd had that for a little while, pale, soft skin against his and he thought those tiny, sweet sounds Zuko made would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life.

His thoughts drifted on the multi-colored sea of medicinal wonder, wandering. Sokka raised a hand and looked at it, fascinated by the vapor trails of color that were left behind every time it moved it. He had blunt, blocky fingers, rough with calluses, his palms broad and square.

Zuko had slim hands, almost delicate, fine-boned and so unlike Sokka's that had spent years spearing fish and sharpening weapons. Okay, Zuko hadn't spent his whole life in his palace but let's face it, his time in the field of manual labor had been laughably short.

There were some calluses on his fingers, Sokka knew, thicker pads of flesh from where he gripped his swords. A few small scars; on his left hand there was a thin line across all of his knuckles where he must've gotten a heck of rap from something sharp. Once, Sokka had kissed those scars, ran his tongue across those slim fingers and sucked one into his mouth, curled his tongue around it and Zuko had made a sound so high his voice cracked.

Yeah, that had been nice. Sokka closed his eyes, his hand drifting down to touch his other arm where a bracelet of bruises was already forming. Those hands only looked delicate, until you felt them wrapped around you. Until they touched you, slid over your skin, and lower, and...

Sokka rolled over, buried his head under his pillows. This was pathetic. If he was going to mope about his lost love, he could at least wait until he'd had some sleep.

Lost love, yeah. Zuko had loved him in the end, Sokka decided; he wasn't imagining that in some drug-hazed desperation. Zuko held honor very highly and he wouldn't have said it if he hadn't meant it, even if he'd just brushed the edge of admitting it. He did love Sokka, at least a little, and maybe that was the worst part of all. If Zuko hadn't loved him then maybe Sokka wouldn't have cared and maybe he wouldn't be tormenting himself with memories and things he could never have.

Let it go tonight, he told himself fiercely, he'd have plenty of time to let those memories do that later. For now, he pulled a pillow over his head and tried not to think of golden eyes and shy little smiles. They weren't his anymore.

Probably never were.

* * *

It felt like he'd barely fallen asleep with light suddenly slapped against his closed eyelids. Sokka couldn't even muster the energy to groan, only just managed to lift a leaden arm to drape over his eyes.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," a deep voice told him and the bed dipped as someone sat on it. That voice was slowly filtering through his aching head, tickling at his memory. Oh, yeah, it was his dad. Who else would brave waking him?

"How are you feeling, son?" A light hand patted his upper thigh and Sokka didn't bother to stifle his groan as it jarred his leg, promptly waking up the dormant throbbing.

"Mmmroph," he snarled, rolling away. If his leg already had to hurt, then there was no way he was going to stay facing the open curtains.

He heard soft laughter. "I'm sorry, son, wouldn't be waking you so early, but I needed to ask if you were staying here or coming with us."

"Coming with us?" Sokka repeated groggily, struggling to push himself up on one elbow. "Going where?"

"Home," his dad said, simply. "I've wanted to see both of you so much, but we've been gone a long time and the other men are eager to get back to their families. I can't keep them away just for me." His father poured a glass of water from a decanter on a side table, offering it to Sokka. He took it and drank it absently, grimacing a little at the lingering medicinal taste in the cup. The coolness of it woke him up a little more and he managed to blink at his dad, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"You're leaving?" Sokka said, unthinking. He winced at the plaintive note to his voice. Like his dad really wanted to rush off again but there were a lot of other warriors who had family that they hadn't seen in over two years. His dad was chief, he couldn't just hang out here in the Fire Nation and let other people rebuild their city.

"Yes," Hakoda said, softly, "They're resupplying our ships right now. We have a long way to go." His voice was firm but Sokka could see the hurt in his face, his eyes.

An apology seemed useless so instead Sokka leaned forward and hugged his dad. Strong arms came around him immediately and pulled him in tight. It had been a long time since Sokka felt like a child but somehow today he felt pretty damned small.

"I already spoke to your sister," his dad said, his breath ruffling Sokka's hair as he rested his chin atop Sokka's head. "She's planning on staying here with the Avatar; she'll be acting as a Water Tribe ambassador for now. I wanted to know if you were staying with her."

Leaving the choice to him, proving that he thought of Sokka as a warrior, and adult who could make his own choices, even though Sokka was still leaning into his arms like a child. Only Sokka didn't feel much like a warrior today. He felt tired and sore, his eyes too-dry and aching and he wanted...

"I want to go home."

He thought he sounded just this side of pathetic, ready to just ditch everything and run away home like a child whose toy had broken. But really, what was he going to stay here for? It was over, they'd won the war, all that was left was rebuilding. Wouldn't it make sense for him to help his own people? Besides, he'd only been here one day and what had it gotten him? An empty bed, an empty heart...if he stayed, by tomorrow he could have lost the shirt on his back and gotten a broken arm to match his leg. No, he didn't want to be here anymore.

It was time to go home.

If his dad thought he sounded any more pathetic than usual he didn't say. He only nodded and gave Sokka a firm shoulder squeeze that said enough with the hugging, they were back into man territory. "We're leaving in a couple of hours, with the tide. Do you need a hand getting down there?"

Sokka shook his head and his dad gave him a smile. "Then you've got just enough time to pack your things and say your goodbyes. I'll see you soon, Sokka."

With that, his father left him alone, the door shutting softly behind him. Sokka sat in the bed a moment longer, the enormity of it suddenly crashing in on him. He was going...home. Home. He'd get to see his Gran Gran again, hunt tiger seal, get out of this heat and into a more normal climate.

Back to normal. He swallowed the faint queasiness at the back of his throat away and shook his head. It was time for it, he supposed. He'd had his adventures and since he was just the guy who was normal, no mystical bending here, then he should get back to normal things. It was the right thing to do.

He started to bound out of bed, yelping as his leg firmly reminded him that, hello, broken here, and instead grabbed his crutch. Packing wasn't going to be hard, his bag was still sitting full on the chair. He snagged it over the arm that wasn't crutching him along and headed out the door.

* * *

Saying goodbye to Suki might have gone better if he'd been able to see her, but the other Kyoshi warriors had been weird about it, to say the least. Making awkward excuses for her being asleep and then for not waking her and when Sokka would have barged into her room anyway, they'd actually blocked the door. Which, okay, they'd kind of broken up but as far as he knew they hadn't signed a blood feud.

It took him maybe longer than it should have to get it, but he was sort of hung over from weird medicine and a serious lack of sleep. It wasn't until he noticed that the girls weren't just weird, they were _embarrassed_ that it hit: Suki was obviously not in her room alone.

He'd stood there far too long, mouth gaping like a badger toad catching flies before he'd managed to give them a weak smile and asked the girls to tell her goodbye from him. Their fervent agreement was probably mostly relief that he'd finally let it go, but the second he'd left their suite, Sokka's smile had faded.

It stung more than he'd expected, a glass-sharp cut added on top of his already aching heart. Sokka hadn't expected her to mourn forever but less than twenty-four hours didn't exactly seem like an appropriate grieving period. She could have at least missed him for a couple of days, a week, tops.

"Who knew I was so easy to get over?" Sokka muttered to himself, limping along the hallways. Easy to push aside, easy to get rid of. Yeah, that was what a guy liked to hear.

The hallways were filled with servants, obviously another perk of the rich and royal, all of them shiny and helpful the second they recognized, 'The Avatar's Companion'. Getting them to learn his name was kind of wasted what with his plan of leaving, so instead he just used them for directions, which they were happy to provide

The Avatar and His Other Companions, as they seemed to be known, were having a late breakfast in the northern gardens. A pretty young woman was happy to lead him there and before she left him, she bowed low enough to make Sokka uncomfortable. Being famous was okay but he wasn't into the borderline worship that Fire Nationals seemed to get into. It was weird to say the least.

Leaving her behind was a relief and he slowly crutched his way out into the gardens. It was more like a park, ornate benches scattered around in a seemingly disorganized pattern that had probably taken four guys and ten scrolls of paper to figure out. It was relatively undamaged, much better than a few other parts of the city Sokka had seen, and he didn't recognize half the plants but he could see well enough that it was a lovely garden.

Aang, Toph, and Katara were easy enough to find, their laughter drawing him forward, just like always, the six of them--

Sokka froze, just out of sight. Suki wasn't with them, he knew, but what if Zuko had joined them for breakfast. They were all friends, of course they would eat with him, spirits, he couldn't –

Carefully, Sokka crept closer, not quite sure what he was going to do. Toph had probably already felt him coming and it wasn't like he could take off running if he saw Zuko with them but...he couldn't leave without saying goodbye. Suck it up, warrior, he told himself fiercely, and peeked around the corner. Three familiar heads were bowed over the table, laughter and muffled words coming from crowded mouths made Sokka sigh in relief as he finally limped out.

"Hey guys."

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Katara said cheerily, and with a pang, Sokka realized it would probably be months before he saw her again. The South Pole wasn't exactly right around the corner from anywhere, and Katara was bound to be busy, Aang, too. All of them. He and Katara had never been apart before, not really, and now...they were older and there were things that needed to be done.

"Have a seat and get something to eat," Katara gestured at an empty chair, "Unless you've already been raiding the kitchen."

"He and the cook are probably already on a first name basis," Toph put in around a mouthful of porridge.

"I can't, I...I just wanted to tell you," he took a deep breath, steadying himself. "I'm going back with dad today. Back home."

Everyone went still. Katara's chopsticks clattered into her dish, forgotten as she stared at him.

"Home?" Katara whispered, her eyes wide, "You...but I thought you and Zuko—"

Just the name made him flinch and he had to look away, down at the grass under his feet. She knew him so well, maybe better than he knew himself. Not Suki, not anything else but Zuko.

"Yeah, well," Sokka twisted his fingers together nervously. "The fact of the matter is he's Fire Lord now, he's got all these responsibilities and, you know," he waved a hand vaguely. "Fire Lord-y stuff to do. He doesn't need me hanging around getting in the way. Seriously, me? I'd be like an embarrassment to him."

Katara's face was getting redder, her eyes narrowing. "He told you that? After everything we all went through, after—"

"No, no, no!" Sokka said hastily, eyeing the tea trembling in the cups for signs of explosion. "Come on, we all know Zuko, now. Do you really think he'd say that?"

Katara looked away and Aang looked down, neither of them willing to meet Sokka's eyes. Toph just looked like she normally did. A soft murmur of 'no' and 'no, he wouldn't' circled the table.

No, he'd tried to think of a better way to say it. Sokka could already hear it, the soft rasp of his voice as he tried to be gentle, fumbling helplessly as he tried, and failed, not to break Sokka's heart. Better that he left now and spared Zuko from having to send him away.

It would be okay, he told himself, and he was going to keep telling himself that until it was true.

Zuko had loved him, a little, maybe more than a little. He hadn't quite said it but he'd come close and he never would have if it wasn't true.

"Well, that's just great," Toph spoke up, and the bitterness in her voice made all of them turn to her, staring. "You're breaking up with him but you're leaving us."

"Not forever," he protested but it was weak. When exactly was he going to be able to come back? "Besides, my leg is going to put me out of commission for a little—"

"Don't make excuses," Toph shouted, fragile tableware shattering to the ground as she stood and the ground wavered uncertainly under them. "You don't need to be able to walk to help make plans and schedules and to be here with us." She turned away abruptly, her face red, and Sokka realized with a sinking heart she was hiding tears.

"Fine," she said, curtly, her voice thick. "Come see me when you find your way back."

They all watched helplessly as she stormed away, Sokka with a hand half-raised and her name caught in his throat.

"Let her go, "Aang said quietly, "She'll be all right. Sokka, I understand if you want to go home. But—" he hesitated a little and Sokka grit his teeth, expecting a repeat of the night before and he couldn't tell Aang what had really happened, he couldn't.

But Aang surprised him. "Are you sure you're doing the right thing?" Aang asked, his voice careful.

"Yeah," Sokka said, tiredly. He was so tired. "It's time."

His sister stood abruptly, flinging herself at him so hard that both of them nearly fell to the ground, would have if a bended cushion of air hadn't buffered up against Sokka's back.

"I'll miss you so much," Katara whispered into his tunic, not bothering to hide her tears.

"Yeah, me too," Sokka said, pressing his face into the top of her head. He breathed deeply, wanting to take every memory of her that he could with him. A long moment passed before Sokka raised an arm to Aang, inviting him into their embrace. "You take good care of her, all right?" Sokka told him, trying to make his voice firm. It sounded more strangled than manly, but hey, it'd been a rough week. Aang made a sound like agreement, choking on his own emotions.

They stood there together until Sokka's leg ached and he knew he had to let go. But he still stayed a few minutes more.

* * *

The blue sails of the water tribe ships seemed strange in the Fire Nation harbor, surrounded by hulking ships of steel and smoke but at least it made them easy to find. Sokka was starting to regret that he had been determined to make his way on his own. The harbor was set high, great stone walls and stairs leading up to the larger ships that were so tall that they'd had to set planks along the docks allow the Water tribesmen to get to their much smaller boats.

The stairs had been bad enough but Sokka hadn't been able to do much more than stare in horror at the long, narrow planks and the water that was so much further down. He could just see himself plunging into that murky water and drowning, it would be the perfect end to the week, it really would.

"Need a hand?" A deep voice boomed beside him and Sokka managed to stifle his shriek, looking up into a familiar face.

"Bato!" he exclaimed, clasping hands with the other warrior.

"Come on, we'll get you on this ship," he said, still smiling. His hands were firm, leading easily when Sokka would wobble and soon enough he had two feet, or at least one and a half, on the deck.

"Ahhh," he sighed in relief, leaning against the side and letting his bag sag down to the deck. He'd rest for just a moment and then see if he could help out with the rigging. There was a long journey ahead and they'd need every hand, even ones attached to a bum leg.

He could see his father nearby, speaking to some other warriors but Hakoda paused long enough to give him a smile. Together with his dad and heading home. The salt air was too warm yet and heavy with humidity but it was still salt. It would cool off soon enough.

The tide was rising and Sokka reluctantly pushed off the side, getting ready to stow his gear below. Time to get to work.

A loud commotion near the docks gave him pause and Sokka turned with a frown, squinting upward. The sun was almost directly overhead but he could still make out the long stone walls, lined with stairs and people who were also pausing, looking towards the sounds of shouting. Vaguely, Sokka noticed other Water tribesmen coming up next to him, all of them watching upwards warily. Peace had come quickly and they were all still on edge, ready to believe but still...

Barely, he could make out the sight of someone running along the stone docks and another group behind them, chasing. Sokka leaned over the side almost unconsciously, trying to see. They were getting closer, coming out of the sun's glare, and the main contingency of the Southern Water Tribe warriors was treated to the sight of the new Fire Lord running hell bent down the pier, his hair loose and wild, long robes trailing behind him. The tide was high and the sails billowing but there was no leaving now, not with the entire water nation present gaping at the spectacle.

The royal guards were running after him, calling his name, the wild jumble of 'my lord' and 'sire' barely recognizable. Their frantic cries turned into panicked shouting as Zuko ignored the long planks, only hiked up his long robes and jumped. They flailed and hesitated, none of them seemed willing to follow their lord into two broken legs.

Dimly, Sokka heard the warriors around him gasp, all of them watching as Zuko landed lightly on the deck, as Sokka had known he would, but he hadn't expected Zuko to stumble, grimacing as he clutched one arm over his chest as though in pain.

Automatically, Sokka lifted a hand towards him, let it drift back down weakly as Zuko caught his balance quickly, drawing himself up. His hair was hanging in his face, his robes a wild disarray but he only looked around once before his eyes caught on Sokka, still leaning stupidly against the side of the boat, staring at him.

People made jokes about having a fiery temper but in Zuko's case it was literal. He looked practically volcanic, his eyes hot and furious, and Sokka would swear he saw a shower of sparks when Zuko clenched his fists and stalked forward.

If it wouldn't have been the singularly most unmanly moment of his life, Sokka might have just took off running in the other direction.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sokka saw two other warriors step forward, more than a little alarmed at having a furious firebender storming up to their Chief's son. Sokka waved them back frantically; better that only he die. Zuko didn't even glance at them when he grabbed Sokka by the front of his tunic and hauled him up on his toes, his crutch clattering to the deck. Zuko was only a couple of bare inches taller than him and Sokka still felt like he was dangling in his furious grip.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled.

_Going home_, he started to say, his voice ridiculously weak, but no, he wasn't in the wrong here, dammit.

"You told me to leave!" Sokka hissed, still half-dangling in Zuko's grip because it wasn't worth trying to struggle away. Seriously, he didn't think that was a fight he was going to win.

"I wanted you to leave the room, not the country! I told you I would talk to you tomorrow. It's still tomorrow, if you haven't noticed," Zuko said scathingly.

Sokka only stared at him in mute anger and Zuko sighed, finally letting him back down on his feet. He stooped down and picked up Sokka's crutch, handing it to him silently, and Sokka took it with as much dignity as he could. The other warriors had back off a step but not much, not with something this good playing out in front of them. The docks were lined with guards and workers, everyone crowding in closer to get a better look.

"I'm sorry," Zuko said finally, pushing his hair back off his forehead. Most of it fell right back down, inky trails shadowing his face, "I know you were upset. But I was breaking up with my girlfriend! Don't you think it might have been a little bit cold to kiss my lover in front of her?"

He felt his cheeks go crimson at the word lover but then the rest of it clicked, his brain prodding his mouth into actually participating.

"You were...she was in your bed!"

"She was sitting _on_ my bed, not in it! You may not have noticed but there aren't any chairs in my room. What kind of person do you think I am?"

The kind who was happy to sleep with pretty girls who wanted him, obviously. He'd been willing to share Sokka with Suki, why would he assume that Mai was any different? Only, Sokka found that he wasn't as generous as Zuko was, he didn't want to share. Didn't think he could bear it, not when just the thought left his chest tight and his eyes hot.

Zuko didn't wait for an answer, plowing on, his voice getting louder with every word. "Didn't I tell you that I loved you?"

"Well, actually—"

"And then the first chance you get you're already on a ship and my uncle has to ask me why I'm not here wishing you a good journey! When I played the coward at least I left a note!" The last was said at a shout, Zuko glaring at him furiously, and Sokka knew he wasn't imaging the faint wisp of steam trailing from his nose.

Forget a note, Sokka was kind of starting to wish he'd left an essay because at least then Zuko would probably still be reading it and not shouting at him. Not that he cared much about shouting in general but he did usually try to avoid public humiliation. The docks were utterly silent, even the ocean seemed to be oddly quiet, hanging on every word.

"Couldn't we talk about this somewhere else?" Sokka whispered furiously, gesturing around him at their very interested audience of water tribesmen, fire nation nationals, the odd Swamp bender and of course, his _dad_.

Zuko didn't take the hint and his voice was just as loud as before, echoing around them as he yelled, "We could have if you hadn't, oh, I don't know, packed up and started heading towards the South Pole! Do you love me or not?"

"Er..." The easy answer was yes and he'd been more than happy to give it to him when they'd been, you know, alone, without representatives of at least three nations watching them.

"Do you or not?" Came from one of the warriors behind him.

"Yeah, do you?" floated down from the docks, a murmuring echo surrounding them. Wonderful, they'd gone from spectators to audience participation.

Sokka ignored them all and turned around to look at his dad, his throat tight. His father was watching with everyone else, of course, just what he'd wanted his dad to see. He wasn't sure what he expected, having his dad suddenly find out that his son was not only into guys, he was into the new Fire Lord, and, yeah, by the way, he didn't need that talk about the cowbirds and the bees, thanks anyway.

Hakoda only gave him a little half smile, and held up his hands, questioning. _Do you?_

He felt a smile relax onto his own face. Yeah, he really did.

His father's expression grew solemn and he jerked his head towards Zuko. Sokka turned back to him almost winced at the expression on his face. He looked worn and tired and hurt...like he'd just gambled everything and lost. Sokka should know; he'd had that look on his own face for the past day. Zuko was not only offering him his heart on a silver platter, he was doing it in front of the entire world. Or at least his own little sliver of it.

Suddenly, this all seemed very easy.

"Of course I love you, you jerk," Sokka said, loud enough to be heard all the way to the docks before he grabbed the front of Zuko's shirt and pulled him in for a kiss.

They'd already saved the world. Everything else would be a piece of cake.

TBC

Whew, that ran longer than I expected! Just one part left, folks, to tie up the loose ends. See you there! :)


	19. Interlude: Jet

Interlude, Jet  
By Keelywolfe  
Jet/ Zuko (Li)

**Summary**: Taking a step backwards in time, this is set during 'The Serpent's Pass' on the ferry to Ba Sing Se. Well, Zuko did say he'd been with someone else in the past...

Notes: I'm blaming this on the cold medicine. One moment I was just happily writing away on the last segment to this story and my brain went, hey, you know what this series needs? Some hot Jet action, that's what it needs! I was in no condition to question it, I'm afraid, so here it is, the segment that wasn't supposed to exist but somehow does. Sorry 'bout that. You know, when I named this the Taking Turns series, I never actually meant it to be literal in that everyone gets a ride...oh, well!

* * *

If someone had asked, Jet wouldn't have been able to put his interest in them into words. It would have been easy to blame it on the similarity in their ages, in Li's outspoken disgust of the food rations. Plenty of blame to shed in plenty of directions but out of all the people on the boat, and there was no shortage of them, there was something about those two, something that Jet couldn't quite place. It pulled at his interest, pulled him out onto the deck to watch the two of them time and again. Where everyone else on this ship was drenched in plain grey sorrow, that guy and his uncle stood out somehow.

All of them were refugees in some way or another, all of them displaced and disowned and trying to get to somewhere that wasn't necessarily better so much as it was just someplace else, someplace new where they could try to set roots before another transplant was forced upon them. Ba Sing Se might be rumored to have good food and warm beds and Jet would hope it was true but he was a realist and he'd only believe it when he was between those sheets.

The fog that had hung in the air during the day was fading with nightfall, leaving the main deck overflowing with moonlight. Jet chewed absently on the end of his wheat stalk, the sweet freshness of it long since gone, worried it with the tip of his tongue as he watched Li and his uncle leaning together, drowsing beneath a couple of thin blankets.

They were refugees, yeah, but not all refugees were created equal. He couldn't see either of these men working the fields, pushing plows or working the soil loose with a hoe. Their hands were too white, too clean with no lines of grime that couldn't be washed away ground into them from years of hard work. Even though their clothing was tattered and rough, everything about them seemed just slightly cleaner than most people Jet had met.

Disenfranchised nobility, perhaps, or even deserters from the military but no, Li was better with those swords than most soldiers, fledgling warriors who'd once been farmers and spent a few clumsy months training before they were expected to defend their country.

Besides, the old man might be able to take an order or two, but he couldn't imagine Li obeying anyone under any terms but his own.

No, the real answer lay in how he carried himself. Yeah, he moved with the fluidity of a practiced swordsman, but also like someone who would easily be able to dance if ever there were a pressing need for it, like he'd once been able to throw away better food than any they could steal from the ship's galley, who moved through the rabble on the ship with a sort of lovely casualness that was untouchable to the filth and squalor.

It was probably why Jet wanted to fuck him so much.

With the creeping hunger in his belly satisfied, it was that desire that kept him awake tonight, had him stepping forward on silent feet to crouch next to Li.

That his eyes opened before Jet had even spoken was no surprise, no alarm in the single golden eye that Jet could see, but there was a growing tension in his body, ready to move, to fight if it was needed. Nobility, maybe, but warrior certainly and that was just fine. Jet jerked his head lightly, indicating Li should follow him and then walked away without seeing if he would. Jet knew better, knew that Li would be right on his heels. Not out of any obedience but more like a wary curiosity. Maybe he wanted to know what Jet could want to talk to him about without the others around or maybe he'd just been bored, eager for some tiny slice of something to do on this unbearably dull journey.

Didn't really matter. Jet hadn't said a word, had walked them down close to the bow of the ship where it was too cool for the sleepers to curl up, waited for Li to catch up to him before he grabbed the front of his tunic and pulled him into the deeper shadows and swallowed his startled protests in his own mouth.

They'd faded quickly enough when Jet had wiggled a rough hand into the front of his pants, wrapping his hand around the waking heat of Li's erection. Li bent beneath him like a reed beneath the wind, carrying them both down to the rough boards as Jet followed him and Jet was willing to bet what little money he had that both the bending and touch was something Li had never done before. He would have bet, and lost, that Li wouldn't have let it go this far, not the first time, so it was just as well he made his gambles with something other than money.

All in all, it was pretty easy, almost surprisingly so and if Li bit him, well, Jet could bite back, just a little, stroking hard and rough when Li's legs finally parted, when he finally tipped his head back and Jet could watch his face greedily, watch that faint virgin protest fading. The cool, polished expression cracking and splintered as even the scar marring it hadn't been able to manage.

But Jet could, and did, running his thumb briefly over the slick head just to hear Li choke, eyes flickering briefly as he bit his lip and his expression crumpled into the same one that every man's did, no nobility here only shut-tight eyes and barely stifled moans.

He tightened his grip, moved his hand in a hard rhythm that pulled tiny, thick sounds from Li's throat. His own hands were rigid on Jet's shoulders, the two sharp points of his thumbs digging into his skin like he couldn't decide whether he should pull Jet in or shove him away, so he did neither. Li just sprawled under him, legs spreading wider as he started pushing into Jet's grip, sudden urgency in his movements. Hot wetness streaked Jet's hand, easing his quick, tight strokes and Li convulsed against him, coiled up and rigid.

Yeah, that was what he wanted to see. Li's hair was bristled with sweat, the dark cap of it damp when Jet ran his free hand behind his head, cupping the warm curve of it, fingers lingering on the bump at the base like he could read fortunes from it. He wanted to see Li's mouth open and slack, panting hotly as he slumped against the rough boards, wanted to see that sleek nobility dissolve under his hands. Li was strong enough and pretty enough but Jet wanted him a little dirtier, a little more normal. Welcome to the real world, his hands were saying, welcome to what's been done to us all.

When Li's eyes finally flickered open, blinking against the incomplete light of the hanging moon, Jet grinned at him, deliberately raising his hand to his mouth and licking through the wetness in his palm. Watched as Li's expression twisted between disgust and arousal but he didn't pull away when Jet ran a thumb over his lower lip and inside, letting him taste himself. He sucked instead, uncertainly, and oh, yeah, there was _potential _there, and it was pretty easy, really, to persuade him a little more, to coax him with hot kisses that promised dark, dirty things, to unbuckle his own pants and tug them down around his thighs, shifting up on his knees so that everything was right within reach.

_Do you wanna_? Jet didn't have to ask because Li _did_, parted those rosy, plush lips and let Jet slide inside, inch after slow inch. No farmer's son, this guy, no reluctant army brat, and Jet could feel his determination, the flex of his throat as he took the hot length even deeper and Jet made a tiny, helpless noise, his hands resting on the wall for balance as he rocked his hips, thrusting lightly into the slick, wonderful heat of Li's mouth.

He looked down, barely able to see himself sliding in and out between those reddened lips and that sight was almost enough to make him come right there. One of Li's strong hands with its too-neat nails was wrapped around the base of his cock, holding him steady as he followed the rhythm of Jet's shifting hips. Jet could feel the roughness of his tongue curved underneath the shaft, the light tickle as Li licked at the tip on the downstroke.

Too good, he was too fucking quick a learner, and it made Jet want to snarl, _you were a virgin, I know you were, you bastard_, but it was enough to push in a little deeper, to feel Li choke a little, his breath where his nose pressed lightly into Jet's belly was faintly panicked, stirring in the soft hairs there.

Jet closed his eyes, couldn't look one second longer at the startled eyes that flicked up to his own, at the hazed bewilderment in them. There was no protest, though, no pulling away, and the darkness around them seemed to shroud them, bare concealment from the murmurs of sleeping people spread around the topside, people who preferred the fresh air to the stifling ship's hold.

He came with a faint gasp, his hand tight and rude on the back of Li's head, holding him there for it and he felt the other boy choke just a little at the sudden shock of it against the back of his throat, held on until Li swallowed, the ripple of it like a tiny orgasm all on its own.

The ache in his knees from the hard boards beneath them was one that Jet would feel later, bone-deep and bruising but for now he only slid down, pressed his forehead to Li's as they both panted, pulling the cool night air into their lungs as they both tried to catch their breath. It was too dark to see clearly, even with the fullness of the moon hovering over the horizon but Jet could still see the swollenness of Li's mouth, the ruddy flush on his good cheek. He could smell himself on the other boy, musky and strong, smell Li's own sweat, his own come still drying on his belly and when he pressed his mouth to Li's, licked into that abused heat, he could taste the faint salt-bitterness inside.

Yeah, this was how Jet wanted him, to take the shine off this particular apple and bring him down to where they were. Wake him up to the reality of the situation. Maybe a soldier, maybe nobility but whatever, it didn't mean a fucking thing now. Now he was an outcast, like the rest of them. Welcome to the real world, pretty boy, Jet told him silently, and maybe, maybe, later he could welcome him into the freedom fighters because you had to be on the lowest rung before you realized it was time to fight your way up.

For right now, Jet only settled himself into Li's lap and kissed him harder, running his tongue over the even line of teeth and deeper inside where it was still bitter, dark. The first time was easy, yeah, the first time was always easy but the second time, well...for that Jet had something else in mind. If Li needed a lesson in reality, Jet was willing to be a teacher, to help him learn the true ache of freedom, and, really, outcasts should stick together.

It was better than being alone.

-finis-


	20. My Own Worst Enemy

My Own Worst Enemy

By Keelywolfe

Notes: Yeah...so, this was supposed to be the last part. Not so much. Plus, I'm already working on the sequel, 'Here There Be Dragons'. So I'm just rolling with it. Ta!

* * *

In the coldest part of the dark winter, when they were all waiting for the return of the Sun, Sokka's gran gran used to entertain them with stories about the sea crow who brought the daylight and how the polar leopard got its spots. Sometimes when they were all huddled together like a warm bundle of puppies in front of the welcoming glow of the firelight, the bitter wind howling like a demon just outside, she would let Katara persuade her into telling a love story, ones that always ended with beautiful women in the arms of their true loves. That was how the best love stories ended.

Which just went to show how much real life sucked because when Sokka was done kissing his lover, he didn't get to fade back into story land, or better yet, a nice bedchamber with thick blankets and plump pillows and a lock on the door. What he did get was an immediate argument with said lover about how exactly he was going to get off the ship that had taken him enough time to get on in the first place.

Just because he'd let Zuko put them on display once did not mean Sokka was willing to go for a second turn and one bum leg did not mean he was letting Zuko carry him anyplace. When both his legs were broken they could discuss it. And he wasn't stupid; he'd seen Zuko's expression when he'd jumped on the deck. It wasn't like he was in any condition to lug around someone who was only two inches shorter and maybe ten pounds lighter anyplace.

Except Zuko was equally insistent that there was no way in hell he was letting Sokka try to walk up the planking that led to the dock. So that left them here, with a group of Water Tribe warriors waiting with astonishing patience for them to get the heck out of the way so that they could go out with the tide.

When it became clear that arguing wasn't getting him anyplace, Sokka decided to settle for the last tool in his arsenal. Stubborn silence and a good glare. It was a shame that Zuko was also an expert in nonverbal combat and the strength of his glare would have made stone tremble, if it had the sense.

Resolution came from an unexpected source. A hand under his elbow took some of his weight and Sokka glanced up, startled.

"Come on, Sokka, I got you on here, I'll get you off," Bato said, and there was no way that Sokka was imagining the laughter in the warrior's voice. He didn't care, only gave Zuko a smug look, hobbling towards the boards and ignoring how Zuko's lips parted in protest.

That was until the world turned upside down as Bato swung Sokka over his shoulder, balancing him easily as he snagged away Sokka's crutch and handed it to Zuko.

"Hey—" Sokka started indignantly, not quite struggling because as embarrassing as this was, going from this to falling on his ass wouldn't be an improvement.

"You'll retain more dignity if you just accept it," Bato murmured, just low enough that only Sokka could hear him. "A warrior can admit his limitations and you know you can't walk up on your own."

Well, yeah, he knew that but knowing it and being actually lugged out like a sack of fish were two different things. His father stepped up and clasped hands with him, which would have been a lot more honorable if he'd still had one foot on the ground.

"Tell your sister I love her," his dad said, smiling a little, and then, lower. "And be happy."

"Thanks, dad," he said, just as soft. That was all the time he had and undignified tears pricked his eyes as Bato carried him away, his father watching with a sad little smile. It was easier to look back at Zuko, glaring at him as he balanced without difficulty on the narrow board while they walked up to the dock. Zuko's expression beneath the fall of his hair was utterly blank and it was a damned good thing or Sokka might have just gone back down with Bato on the return trip. His dignity had taken enough of a beating today, there was no way he was letting Zuko smirk about it.

The second the world leveled out and he could see stone bricks, Sokka was abruptly back on his foot, Zuko wordlessly handing him his crutch. Three of the lingering guards stepped immediately forward, surrounding them, one of them passing Zuko his Fire Lord hairpiece with a reverent bow. Zuko accepted it with great dignity, tucking it into his robes as if he hadn't just lost it by running and shouting and kissing another boy in front of them all.

Sokka managed to give Bato one last hand clasp before they were swept forward, the crowd parting as if by bending. It was weird to feel Zuko taking his free hand in his, twining their fingers together.

"Should we wait for Suki?" Zuko asked, gesturing at the boat.

"Huh?" Sokka glanced back at the boats, watching as the sails filled with wind. He had to look away, didn't want to watch them pushing away from the harbor. He'd seen that often enough. "Suki? Oh, she's not on there."

Zuko blinked in surprise, resisting Sokka's grip trying to tug him forward. "You were leaving without her?"

"Yeah, well...." Sokka shrugged. "I think she's heading back to Ba Sing Se with her Kyoshi warriors. There's a lot to be done there, you know? We kind of--" He gestured vaguely because they'd kind of what? Broken up? He wasn't sure what he'd call it, they hadn't talked, they'd just...drifted. There was a little ache inside from it, a little guilt but it had happened and what else was there to say?

"I'm sorry," Zuko said soberly. His hands were gentle as he helped Sokka climb the low steps that led from the docks back to solid ground. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have taken to so long to come see you. I thought—"

He trailed away and Sokka swallowed hard. Yeah, he had an idea of what Zuko thought. He wanted to ask about Mai, wanted to ask if Zuko was all right but—yeah. Not here, not yet. It was easier to take refuge in sarcasm, the way he always did.

"Nah, I couldn't keep dividing my attention. All of The Sokka is yours, baby," he leered, pitching his voice just loud enough that the guards would be able to hear. Hey, might as well spread the public humiliation around.

Instead of blushing, Zuko's eyes went hot, shimmering gold sliding down Sokka's body in a way that left _him_ flushed and squirming. "Good," Zuko murmured. "Let's go find someplace quiet where I can put it to good use."

"Yeah," Sokka said dumbly, leaning heavily on his crutch as he lurched forward.

It was sort of weird walking back towards the palace. People were staring and he didn't think it was because Zuko was walking with him. He had an idea that it was because Zuko was walking at all and the guards kept crowding in closer, surrounding them in a little semi-circle as if to make a human barrier around them. Sokka nearly tripped when one of them actually trod on his heel and Zuko finally stopped, turning back towards them. To call his look withering was not giving it enough credit, grown men would cringe beneath the heat of it, and did.

Immediately, the guards took five steps backwards, and then another few doubtfully when Zuko waved them back impatiently.

"I think we've given enough of a free show for the day," he muttered.

"Next time, we'll charge admission," Sokka said agreeably. Still, for all that people were staring, they weren't being...well, weird about it. The new Fire Lord had been in charge for a day and a half, and he'd already been yelling and kissing another boy. In public. If he'd expected some kind of reaction from the people of the Fire Nation, quiet gawking hadn't really been it.

"Everyone seems kind of okay with this," Sokka murmured. Not that he'd expected them to throw tomatoes or something, but really. Weirdness.

"Of course. No one was surprised. People of the Fire Nation are very passionate," Zuko said, waving his free hand absently, the other still holding Sokka's firmly. He was doing it on purpose, Sokka realized, announcing on no uncertain terms and very visibly just what Sokka was to him. He sighed inwardly. Okay, yeah, he loved Zuko but he hadn't known he was going to have to be on display.

He should have, he realized. Being in charge meant you were the spectacle; he'd seen that much in Ba Sing Se, and that meant the people around you were part of the show. He'd had some of that with Aang, everyone crowding the Avatar and his companions and he hadn't been _sleeping_ with Aang. Katara and Aang were both right, he hadn't really thought it through, just what it meant to be involved with all this. He loved Zuko but the fact of the matter was, he was sleeping with the Fire Lord.

This was really going to take some getting used to.

"Passionate, huh," Sokka muttered, "And loud, don't forget loud." They were probably already writing scrolls about their little song and dance back on the dock.

"I do what's necessary," Zuko said, unapologetically. "You were on your way to the South Pole, Sokka. You don't think that was an overreaction, at all?"

Okay, so maybe taking off to travel halfway around the world had been a bit of a hasty decision. Aang had asked him if he was doing the right thing. Why exactly did he have to be right all the time?

"Maybe. But it's not completely my fault, you know," Sokka said, keeping his head lowered and concentrating on the brick of the road. It would be just his luck to trip and break his other leg. "I've been hyped up on your weird Fire Nation brain juice."

Zuko slowed to a stop, his grip on Sokka's hand dragging him along for the ride. "Brain...juice?" Zuko asked, equal parts bewildered and repulsed.

"Yeah, I don't know, it's some kind of medicine, for my leg."

Zuko didn't look any more convinced but he just shook his head and started walking again. By the time they made it inside the palace, Sokka's leg was starting to throb in time with his heartbeat and he was leaning on Zuko as much as he was his crutch. Once, one the braver guards had stepped forward and Sokka wasn't entirely sure if he just wanted to help or if he just didn't like Sokka draped over their Fire Lord but either way, Sokka had glared daggers at the man until he'd stepped back in line with the others.

Yeah, that was right. Obey the Water Tribe, clone boy.

Either way, it was a relief to finally limp his way through the same double doors from the night before, only this time he didn't need a distraction and Zuko pushed him to lean against the wall while he firmly closed the doors. The second after they clicked shut, Sokka found himself off his feet for the second time that day as Zuko swung him up into his arms, ignoring Sokka's squawk of protest. "Hey, you're hurt!"

"Be quiet," Zuko said mildly, only the slightest of winces crossing his face. "I know for a fact that you've been on that leg a lot more than you're supposed to be. If I thought you would have let me, I would have had them send a stretcher down for you."

"It's fine!"

"Whatever. What did the doctor tell you about it?"

"Nothing," Sokka said sullenly, slouching back into Zuko's arms. A certain tightness edged Zuko's lips and suddenly it occurred to him that he might have just gotten that nice doctor who'd given him the brain swirly medicine into a lot of trouble. "I mean, there were lots of other people who were hurt and he was really busy and—"

"We'll have my personal physician look at it later," Zuko said shortly and then he was settling him on the bed, right where she had been sitting the night before. Something must have shown on his face, some discomfort that had nothing to do with the spreading ache in his leg because Zuko's hands went still, resting lightly on Sokka's thigh where he had been settling a pillow beneath his leg.

"I know," Zuko said, quietly, "I said I would talk to you about it." He took a deep breath, moving away enough to strip out of his long robes. Beneath it he was wearing a sleeveless tunic that just reached the tops of his thighs over leggings, and for a moment, Sokka was so charmed by the sight of Zuko's bare arms he forgot that they were, you know, _talking_. He'd seen him shirtless plenty of times, but the simple lines of his tunic seemed to put his arms on display and the flex and bulge of his muscles as he moved was, to put it bluntly, hot as hell.

Of course, now would be when Zuko wanted to talk.

"I'm not going to lie to you. I do love her," Zuko said quietly, folding his robe across a low trunk at the foot of the bed. "She offered to let me be with both of you and I...I can't do that. It's not uncommon, but--" Whatever he was thinking, remembering, he didn't share it. "I made my choice; I want to be with you."

"Why didn't you ask me to make a choice?" Sokka blurted, wincing inwardly because he never had, the choice had really been Suki's, not his. He might have gone on blissfully unaware, sharing himself between them.

Zuko's smile was thin and unhappy. "That should be obvious."

"Glad you think so," Sokka muttered. He was still a little shaken, trying to puzzle out exactly when this issue had begun and why he hadn't even noticed but Zuko interrupted him by climbing on the bed, those smooth, strong arms sliding around him.

"It doesn't matter," Zuko murmured, his eyes low.

It does, Sokka didn't say, couldn't, not with Zuko's mouth against his, his tongue pressing inside with slow certainty that Sokka couldn't help but fall into. It was different somehow, there was a surety in this that they'd never had before. If he fell asleep here tonight, he'd wake up and Zuko would still be here, there would be no slipping off into the darkness, no other place they had to get to or run from. Just here, in this bed and—

Sokka broke away from the kiss, words spilling from his mouth in a breathless rush, "Is this _your_ room or is it—" _your dad's_, he couldn't say, is it the Fire Lord's room, who else has been on this mattress or between these sheets and there was a thin line of panic rising in his chest. He'd wanted to stay but he hadn't counted on all this, the past crowding in around him the same way the guards had earlier.

"It's always been my room," Zuko whispered, his mouth busy at Sokka's ear, biting lightly at the soft lobe before sucking it into his mouth. "Just mine."

It made it easier to relax back against the pillows, Zuko's hands between them loosening his clothes, rearranging him and spreading him out, and Sokka just went with them, panting and moaning mindlessly whenever Zuko found a spot that was particularly sensitive. There were bruises scattered all over him; his leg had been his worst injury but he'd done plenty of falling and tumbling, liberally decorating himself with purpled splotches. Warm lips ghosted over each one, the lightest pressure against them and probably should have been embarrassing how hard it made him, Sokka knotting his fingers into the soft spill of Zuko's hair and just holding on.

Zuko drifted lower, ignoring Sokka's hopeful arch to slide down and kneel by his feet, pressing openmouthed kisses to his knee, just over the bandages. Warm lips caressed his inner thighs, soft words murmured into his skin again and again like Zuko was trying to imprint him with them. Through the sweet honeyed haze of desire, Sokka could hear Zuko murmuring, the sweet waterfall of his words nothing more than a pleasant noise until he realized just what he was saying.

Over and over, breathing it into his skin, Zuko was whispering, "I love you, I love you."

Against the warm, bare skin of his hip and inward, nuzzling those soft murmurs into the hot eager length of his cock, punctuating it with wet swipes of tongue that lingered too-long and made Sokka squirm impatiently. Until he couldn't stand to hear it anymore, to see the echo of it in Zuko's eyes when they flicked up to his, following the pull of Sokka's hands as they tugged him up.

"C'mon, this isn't fair," Sokka told him softly, jerking lightly at the clothes Zuko was still wearing. The shirt was hot, no question, but naked skin was better. Zuko stripped off his shirt with surprising reluctance and Sokka's breath hissed between his teeth when he saw the bandages, spirits, what had Azula _done_ to him, but Zuko didn't let him linger over them, skinning quickly out of his pants and moving back to straddle Sokka, settling himself in his lap.

Hot hands between them and Sokka was beyond questioning how they were slick, oily fingers coating the length of his erection and Sokka was arching up into them, needy and aching and trying very hard not to die.

"Wait," he managed, when Zuko shifted his weight up, holding Sokka steady with one hand, his other fingertips resting lightly on Sokka's belly for balance as he knelt over him.

"Wait?" Zuko asked, stroking his fingertips down the shaft in a way that made Sokka suck in a sharp breath, shivering with the little rush of pleasure.

He swallowed hard, heard the dry click in throat, "Wait, you aren't...I didn't..." he bit his lip, frustrated, "I don't want to hurt you."

"You do, a little," Zuko said, closing his eyes as he slid down, guiding Sokka inside him. "I don't mind."

If he'd had the presence of mind, Sokka would have asked what the hell that was supposed to mean, but the tight heat surrounding him stole any sense he had away, hot slickness squeezing him like a vice and Zuko made a little, almost pained sound, like maybe this was little deeper than he'd expected and Sokka had to kiss away the sudden tightness in his face, choking on things he wanted to say.

Then Zuko rocked forward, a little, and back down hard, and Sokka's mind flamed white-hot, gods, so good, this was so _good_ and he'd never expected to have it again, should have been on a ship, ready to breathe in cold arctic air again. Instead, he was here, in the fire nation, and the Fire Lord was above him, his head thrown back as he moved, his weight across Sokka's thighs holding him down.

He reached between them, his hand tangling with Zuko's around his cock and then let his fingertips ghost lower to where they were joined, pressing inward so he could feel himself sliding inside. Couldn't arch into it, Zuko all but pinning him to the bed and the light behind Sokka's eyes went golden, like the eyes that were closed above him as he shifted to clutch desperately at Zuko's thighs, felt the strain of muscles even as his own nails bit lightly into the pale skin.

"I love you," Sokka choked out, finally, because it was true, and if the words made Zuko convulse suddenly, hot wetness spilling between them, then watching Zuko come tipped Sokka over the edge, grabbing Zuko's hips and yanking him down, jerking helplessly as he tried to get just a little deeper, a little more and had he really been expecting to live without this?

Zuko slumped against him, damp breaths harsh against Sokka's ear and it wasn't until he shifted, restlessly, that Sokka realized he'd been clutching him close, so tightly that his arms ached when he let Zuko go. He didn't go far, just climbed under the blankets wearily and snuggled up to Sokka's side in a way that made him raise mental eyebrows.

Snuggling. Huh. That was new.

He blinked a little when he realized Zuko was actually intent on sleeping.

"Hey, wait, we were talking, here!" Sokka protested, talking down to the dark nest of hair resting on his ribcage.

"No, we aren't." Came the muffled reply. "We talked. We had sex. Now we sleep. It's the proper order of things."

"You talked," Sokka huffed. "How is this going to work, anyway, don't you have to, I don't know, provide an heir to the nation or something? What about—"

"Sokka, I think it's a little premature for you to be hinting for a commitment ceremony," Zuko mumbled, his lips brushing ticklishly against Sokka's side.

"What? I stayed in the country for you," Sokka said, outraged. Not that he really wanted anything like that but it was the principle of the thing.

"You've stayed for about twenty minutes," Zuko murmured dryly, "Would you like your medal now or can it wait?"

"You—" A hand covering his mouth silenced him and he glared at Zuko from above it.

"Sokka, I have council meetings this afternoon with representatives from various countries, including finishing the one I ran out of this morning when I was chasing you down. I have a dozen more ambassadors coming from other cities that I need to make arrangements for, reparations discussions are ongoing with a dozen different military units being reassigned to help with rebuilding. Can we please discuss the rest of our lives later?"

Sokka's response was muffled and it was just as well because he wasn't sure about the profanity laws in the fire nation.

Zuko's eyes darkened. "Either be quiet or I'll give your mouth something else to do."

If he hadn't been pretty exhausted himself, he might have gone with it. But now that last night's lack of sleep was catching up to him, Sokka decided, reluctantly, that a little nap might not be out of order. He did roll over though, for the mean pleasure of hearing Zuko grumble as his living pillow moved away. But when he shifted onto his side something cold poked him and Sokka had to fumble under the blankets, his fingertips finding something smooth-edged and hard. He pulled it out, squinting at it. It was the little jar of lubricant, oh sorry, cut-and-burn ointment that Zuko always had with him.

"Where do you keep that stuff, anyway?" Sokka yawned, shoving it off the side of the bed to clatter to the floor. He dimly hoped he hadn't broken it, the stuff _was _pretty versatile.

"Firebenders can form a small pocket universe outside of reality to use for storing small items," Zuko told him sleepily.

Sokka's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious?"

"No."

It took it a moment to filter through the Zuko had actually made a joke, and not just any joke, but a good one and Sokka had actually fallen for it.

There was only one proper response to that. He tugged the pillow out from behind him and whacked Zuko in the head with it.

Bright golden eyes flared open, glaring at him. "Oh, you are so going to pay for that."

If the guards outside could hear the laughter and sounds echoing from within their lord's chambers, their expressions didn't show it.

Not much, anyway.

TBC


	21. Interlude: Katara

Interlude, Katara

by Keelywolfe

* * *

The past year had led Katara to some strange places. Strange towns, bizarre caves and cities beneath cities, yeah, she'd seen it all. The Fire Nation wasn't the strangest place she'd been, by far. But somehow, knowing that Sokka wasn't in it, the palace already seemed quieter, the large hallways echoing her footsteps emptily as she walked to the infirmary.

She sighed a little to herself, unhappily, wondering how things had taken a turn into wrong.

Aang hadn't been convinced Sokka was doing the right thing and Katara was certain he wasn't. When they'd been in his rooms after everything had happened, the first thing Zuko had asked her when he'd awoken was if she'd heard from the others yet. If she'd heard from Sokka. It was completely obvious to her that they loved each other and things might have been easier if Sokka had just loved Suki, but if there was one thing they'd learned this past year it was that the easy way wasn't always the best way. If it had been, the Fire Lord would be dead or maybe Zuko never would have left the Fire Nation to begin with.

Now Sokka was taking another easy way out and running away, and for that, she could have smacked him in the head.

If they'd had more time, she was sure she could have persuaded him to stay and she felt a little rush of exasperated affection for her father. She loved her dad dearly, but he could have waited before offering Sokka a quick way out of town to go with his feeble excuses. Not that she didn't see his point, royalty being what it was, but she'd seen Zuko, the panic in his eyes when he asked about Sokka. The love that had been shining in them whenever Sokka was around these past few weeks. She'd watched it all, quietly, and now she was watching it fall to pieces.

The infirmary was a suite of rooms, not far from the Fire Lord's chambers, and Katara made her way inside easily, nodding to one of the young nurses as she passed.

The royal family physician was an older man with graying hair and a large, bulbous nose who spoke mostly in grunts and seemed rather uncaring of who was in charge, so long as they didn't die in his care. For all of that, he'd been quick to appreciate her healing skills when he'd inspected Zuko's injuries and his hands had been deft as he'd wound bandages around his new lord, forcing him to drink something that, from Zuko's expression, must have been hideously bitter.

He'd allowed Katara to stay with Zuko while he slept, grumpily overriding the guards' protests over having someone from the Water Tribe near him when he was injured and Zuko's objection that he didn't have time to rest when his country was in tatters.

"Young man," Doctor, if he had a name, Katara didn't know it, no one ever seemed to call him anything else, had told him, "You will be the third Fire Lord I've had the honor to serve in my time, as well as a large number of princes, princesses, lords and ladies. I've seen many of them come and go. And I can assure you, the country will survive long enough for you to rest, but you may not survive without it. Lie down!"

She'd hidden her laughter then as Zuko meekly did as he was ordered, relaxing quickly into sleep as the medicine took effect.

The infirmary still had a few lingering patients in it, one young solder with a badly broken leg and a few others who had food poisoning from spoiled rations. She had extended her healing skills to all of them, ignored their wary looks, their silent acceptance with Doctor hovering behind her encouragingly. He was standing in front of his cupboards at the moment, searching noisily through glass vials and clay jars, a collection that any apothecary would envy.

"The bandages are over there," Doctor told her, not looking up from the vials he was sorting. Something about the man's easy acceptance of her presence made her want to look around for Pai Sho tiles, signs of the Lotus but so far, she hadn't found a clue. Of course, she could just ask Iroh but somehow that would take the fun out of it.

"Thank you," Katara told him politely as she went to collect them. Perhaps she should be frustrated that after all they'd been through she was reduced, again, to being nothing more than a healer instead of a warrior in her own right, but it was difficult not to appreciate the trust she'd been given, that she was allowed to care for the Fire Lord's wounds.

Gathering the bandages and the small jar of ointment from where they were laid aside, Katara started on her way to Zuko's chamber. Much as he grumbled about it, Zuko knew enough about burns that he didn't protest the frequent bandage changes. Adding her own healing skills to the ointments only quickened his healing and she thought that soon he wouldn't need the bandages. The burns had been nasty but with care, the scar would be barely visible.

Not that Zuko should ever feel shame at any of his scars.

She sighed again, a little, wondering how to speak to him. If he would be lost in the Fire Lord, waiting impatiently for her to finish so he could get back to business or perhaps he would simply be the Zuko she'd come to know, the one who hadn't hesitated from stepping in front of lightning.

Or maybe he'd be a new Zuko, saddened by the loss of his lover, mourning even. Maybe. And what could she possibly say to that Zuko when it was her brother, her lovable, stupid brother who was the cause of it?

The guards at the door to his chamber were unsmiling, their eyes wary, but they allowed her to enter, the door closing softly behind her as she walked down the inner corridor. She could hear movement inside, Zuko was probably shedding his formal robes, and she forced a smile to her face, willing herself to be cheerful until she found out what she was facing.

Turning the corner into the main room, she stopped. And stared.

There were moments in Katara's life when time seemed to slow down. Running to her father as a child, terror in her throat as she cried out, too slow, always too slow, that her mother was in trouble. The realization that a hot arc of lightening was traveling right towards her and she had no time to move, no protection from it until Zuko had cut a path across it. And now, with a wealth of pale, bare skin stretched out in front of her, the blankets a wild tangle at the foot of the bed.

The first thought that came to her in that endless split second was that Zuko really had a nice ass.

The second was that its appeal was diminished by the fact that her brother's bare knees were on either side of it.

In that frozen moment, every detail seemed to magnify, etching itself into her consciousness. The contrast of the neat, white bandages looped around the darker skin of Sokka's injured leg, and Zuko's hand just above it, nearly as pale. The flex of muscles in broad shoulders, white bandages wrapped around the long torso, the heavy sound of breathing, a louder, deeper moan on an inhale.

And finally her hands went limp, sending her supplies crashing to the floor and abruptly two sets of eyes were on her, hot golden ones and wide blue ones exactly like her own and suddenly, time sped back up, jolting into _now_.

This particular situation being somewhat out of her experience, Katara did what she always did and went with instinct; she slammed a hand over her eyes, spun around, and screamed.

Almost instantly, the sound of running footsteps came from the main entrance, the clang of armor and weapons and large bodies that she refused to look at jostled around her, shoving her rudely out of the way.

Okay, this could possibly be bad.

Daring to peek through her fingers, Katara looked carefully to each side. The guards were lined up like statues in a garden, sword arms dangling limply and mouths gaping like a row of gargoyles waiting for rainfall.

There was a rustle from the bedclothes and Katara would have sworn she had no idea her brother knew words like the ones he was muttering right now.

Finally, Zuko spoke, through gritted teeth, "Do. You. Mind?"

One of the guards startled, the tip of his sword scraping against the tile floor. "No, my lord...I mean, Yes, my lord, we heard...I..." He bowed abruptly, dipping his head so low that he staggered forward a step. As quickly as they'd arrived, the guards were shuffling out and if they had anything to say about what they'd seen, they kept it to themselves. At least until they left the chamber and Katara was pretty sure that the entire Fire Nation plus the surrounding territories would have heard about this by nightfall. Fire Lord, totally naked, and yes, Water Tribe! Probably half the kingdom would be claiming to have seen it first hand by morning.

Oops.

She heard a loud sigh that had to be from Sokka. "Thanks, Katara, that was high on my list of things to do today. Be naked in front of most of the royal guard, I can check that one off. We're decent, by the way."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I was expecting you to be on a ship right now, not...not..." she turned around, felt her face heat a little when she saw that by decent, Sokka meant they'd pulled the blankets over their laps. She pointed a finger at them fiercely, because now would be the perfect time to take refuge in healer tactics. "Not doing things that neither of you should be doing right now!"

"Whatever." Sokka flopped back into the pillows. "You have got to get some better guards. And seriously, if we're going to keep putting on shows like this, we really need to start charging," Sokka said, muffled into the pillow.

"I'd prefer an alternative to public screenings, if you don't mind," Zuko muttered. His cheeks were as brightly flushed as Katara's. "Speaking of which?" he gestured expansively at the door and Katara realized he actually expected her to leave.

"I am here to change your bandages," she informed him tartly. "And that is exactly what I am going to do. Unless you'd rather I go get Doctor?"

Zuko pressed his lips together. "Change them," he said, resigned.

That was more like it. Shoving her brother out of the way, Katara sat gingerly on the edge of the bed and carefully unwound the bandages, looping them into her free hand. The soft cotton was slightly damp with sweat and Katara firmly didn't think of why. This was already a tipped over boat in a lake of gross, better to just get this over with before she had to start swimming.

Sokka was watching with interest, nearly in her way as he leaned in, inspecting the wound. She was expecting some remark, some joke about Zuko learning to dodge, maybe or...she wasn't sure. Sokka was the jokester of the family.

But he didn't. His expression was just this side of grave, studying the blistered starburst that was low on Zuko's chest.

"She almost killed you," Sokka murmured. He lightly touched the skin around the burn, his fingers clinging tackily to the leftover ointment coating it.

"But she didn't," Zuko told him firmly. He reached up and covered Sokka's hand with his own, squeezing gently, and for some reason, watching it make Katara's eyes prickle, just a little. She glanced at her brother, met his eyes with hers.

"You stayed." Katara said, softly, a smile curving her lips.

"Yeah, I stayed," Sokka grinned. "Zuko gives a hell of a persuasive speech."

"I'm glad," she said, nimbly tying the bandages up again and climbing to her feet. "Now, you, take it easy. Nothing strenuous, you're still healing. I'll see you tonight for a water healing session. You," she pointed firmly at her brother. "Same thing, but I'll add stay off your leg. You're going to heal crooked if you don't and unless you want your leg rebroken, I'd advise against it. And if you must have sex, try to keep it gentle."

It was completely worth her own embarrassment to hear Sokka squawk out an indignant, "Katara!"

Hastily, she gathered up the used bandages and made her escape. And if the guards didn't look at her when she left, well, she certainly wasn't going to blame them for that. She was already thanking the spirits that she'd been no where near the bed when they'd crashed in.

There were enough rumors going on for one day. Might as well save one for later because Katara had a feeling they were going to be here a while.

-finis-

Notes: I want to thank everyone for reading! I had a great time writing this story and I'm delighted that so many people enjoyed it! Thank you all! I'm working on the sequel to this, hopefully we'll see it soon! Take care!


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